SHANGHAI - Chinese battery and car maker BYD Co has set up an auto financing firm with a subsidiary of Societe Generale's consumer financing arm, an adviser of the French company said on Monday.

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The auto financing firm, 80 percent held by BYD, was expected to start operation early next year, providing auto financing services in China, law firm Gide Loyrette Nouel said in a statement.

Gide Loyrette Nouel said it had advised Compagnie Generale de Locations d'Equipement, a subsidiary of Societe Generale Consumer Finance, on the deal.

BYD, partly owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc, is a fast-growing car maker, with a 4.5 percent share of the country's car market at the end of June.