(Yicai Global) Aug. 2 -- BYD disclosed on a conference with investors recently that the Chinese automaker will open 270 stores in 117 Chinese cities by the end of this year to begin direct selling of its electric car brand Denza, saying the move will break the traditional sales model to provide better service to customers.

Seventy-six Denza stores were under construction in 51 cities as of June 13, the Shenzhen-based company said in a statement yesterday, adding that it will add another 49 cities to its plans.

Set up in 2010 by BYD and Daimler, Denza New Energy was the first joint venture between a Chinese and foreign carmaker dedicated to new energy vehicles. Its first model, the Denza 300, hit the market in 2014 at a starting price of CNY369,000 (USD54,500). The Denza 400 and the Denza 500 followed shortly afterward.

The German auto giant cut its stake in the JV to 10 percent from 50 percent last December, after it failed to do well over a decade.

The latest multi-purpose model, the Denza D9, will go to market this month, BYD said, adding that it has already received 30,000 orders since it began taking them two months ago. The Denza D9 costs between CNY335,000 and CNY660,000.

BYD’s passenger vehicle sales soared 169 percent to 134,000 in June from a year earlier, bringing the first-half total to 640,000, according to figures the company released on July 3.

A number of BYD models have also entered overseas markets, covering 400 cities in over 70 countries and regions across six continents, the firm noted. The Yuan Plus, the first sports utility vehicle from BYD’s all-electric e-platform 3.0, is on sale in San José, Costa Rica. The SUV, also known as the Atto 3, the BYD Dolphin, and the BYD Seal, also has landed in Japan.

Shares of BYD [SHE: 002594], which is also one of China’s biggest makers of batteries for electric vehicles, fell 1.2 percent to close at CNY326.60 (USD48.34) today.

Editor: Futura Costaglione