Asian Tech Press (Jan 31) -- Chinese automaker BYD Co Ltd plans to start a new energy car insurance business by acquiring a Chinese online insurance company.

BYD intends to acquire a 100% stake in Yi'an Property Insurance Co. Ltd., also known as 1An Insurance, one of China's four dedicated online insurance companies.

1An Insurance, which officially opened in February 2016, was put into receivership and supervision by the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission in July 2020 for reasons including solvency problems, and entered into bankruptcy and restructuring procedures in July 2022.

At present, 1An Insurance has basically completed its bankruptcy and restructuring plan. BYD said, "The acquisition is in progress, subject to subsequent official release of specific information."

A number of industry veterans pointed out that BYD took over 1An Insurance, mainly because of the huge blue ocean market for new energy auto insurance.

As one of China's largest automakers, BYD sold 1,857,400 new energy passenger vehicles in 2022, up 212.82% year-on-year.