(Yicai Global) Dec. 24 -- China's BYD has hinted at speeding up its semiconductor unit's listing pursuit.

The car manufacturer will spin off BYD Semiconductor and cultivate more market-oriented units, the Shenzhen-based parent said in an investor notice on Dec. 21.

BYD Semiconductor, China's largest automotive insulated gate bipolar transistor maker, is competing against foreign chip giants, such as German's Infineon Technologies and Japan's Mitsubishi Electric, which have for long been controlling the global IGBT market.

Founded in 2004, BYD Semiconductor completed its Series A+ round of funding in June. The firm bagged CNY2.7 billion (USD413.4 million) in its Series A and A+ rounds from investors including Sequoia Capital, China Capital Investment Group, Himalaya Capital, and Semiconductor Manufacturing International.

"As the largest car-rated IGBT manufacturer in China, our semiconductor business successfully introduced CNY1.9 billion strategic investment within 42 days,“ according to the Dec. 21 notice. The unit has built long-term business relationships with customers from the automotive, consumer, and industrial sectors, it added.

BYD Semiconductor would be valued at CNY30 billion (USD4.6 billion), China International Capital predicted in April. The listing would improve the parent's financial situation and lay a foundation for another listing of BYD's battery business, Citibank said in a research note.

The parent has been talking about its plans for the other core unit for long. BYD intends to spin out its battery business for an initial public offering by December 2022, it said on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange's investor relation management platform in 2015.

IGBTs affect car prices. An electronic control system makes up about 10 percent of each new energy vehicle's cost, whereas an IGBT accounts for as much as half of that, Changjiang Securities said in a research note.

Editor: Emmi Laine