AUTOSHOW-BYD says targeting sales growth of 10-15 pct in 2011

SHANGHAI, April 19 (Reuters) - BYD Co Ltd , a Chinese car and battery maker backed by billionaire Warren Buffett (BRKa.N), is targeting to grow its sales by between 10-15 percent this year, a top company official said on Tuesday.

BYD sold 519,000 vehicles in 2010, vice president Xia Zhibing told reporters at the Shanghai auto show.

Hong Kong-listed BYD said last month that it had altered its market strategy from rapidly expanding the distributor network to aggressively optimising the auto sales network.

Its car sales fell 27.5 percent in the first quarter to 118,602 units, lagging national car sales growth of 9 percent during the same period.

(Reporting by Alison Leung; writing by Fayen Wong; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)