The New York Times website published on February 20, which published a report entitled by BYD to become a "Tesla Killer". The report is edited as follows:
"They used to be the laughing stock of this industry." Chinese automobile industry analyst Deng Kai said.
Now, no one laughed at BYD.At the end of 2023, the company surpassed Tesla in the global sales of pure electric vehicles.
BYD is building a production line in Brazil, Hungary, Thailand, and Uzbekistan, and plans to do so in Indonesia and Mexico.It is also rapidly expanding exports to Europe.
Henry Ford Museum's traffic project leader Matt Anderson said: "BYD's growth has never been seen in the history of the automotive industry."
BYD's headquarters is located in Shenzhen, China Electronics Industry Center, which shows people how Chinese auto manufacturers use the country's dominant position in the field of electronic products.
In the process of accepting pure electric vehicles and plug -in hybrid vehicles in the Chinese market, no company's benefit is comparable to BYD.These two cars currently account for nearly 40%of the Chinese automobile market (the world's largest market).
BYD and other companies' success in electric vehicles have also triggered more examiners.Tesla CEO Musk said at the earlier company's financial report earlier this year: "Frankly speaking, I think that if there is no trade barrier, they are likely to destroy most of the world's competitors."
BYD Chairman Wang Chuanfu founded this company in 1995, producing batteries for Motorola and other consumer electronics companies.Wang Chuanfu studied at Central South University in Changsha, which was a well -known elite institution of battery chemistry research.But his dream is to build a car.
In 2003, BYD acquired a factory in Xi'an to produce fuel vehicles.But the company encountered trouble at the beginning, and its reputation was plagued by quality problems.
In 2008, Warren Buffett purchased nearly 10%of BYD's shares for $ 230 million, which not only injected it funds but also brought global popularity.
At that time, the manufacturing cost of electric vehicles was very high, and the mileage was limited.Wang Chuanfu stated in an interview in his early years that automakers should focus on plug -in hybrid vehicles.But he added that electric vehicles still have huge potential in the Chinese market.
By 2012, as the output of automobiles gradually meets the demand, Chinese buyers have become more picky.Due to the more fashionable models of multinational companies, BYD's sales and stock prices plummeted.Industry executives and analysts have doubted whether they still have the future.
But BYD subsequently voted for two bets, and they were rewarded.
In 2016, BYD hired Audi's famous designer Wolfgang Eg, and the latter hired hundreds of bold car engineers.They are completely redesigned compared to BYD's models.
The industry standards for charging lithium batteries are mostly lithium nickel cobaltate. BYD finds the method of replacing it with cheaper iron phosphate.But early battery life was short.BYD launched a "blade battery" in 2020. This battery basically made up for the gap in battery life, and the cost was lower.
Around 2020, Tesla started to produce and sell electric vehicles in large quantities in China, and electric vehicle boom swept the country.BYD has prepared for this boom with cheap battery chemical materials and Wolfgang Eg.
In recent years, Tesla has also started using lithium iron phosphate batteries in low -priced models.
UBS discovered last year that BYD's hatchback manufacturing costs are 35%lower than the same quality and slightly smaller Volkswagen Id.3 models made in Europe.The saved cost only comes from cheaper iron phosphate batteries.
Compared to Tesla, BYD has an advantage that still exists: Wang Chuanfu's decision made by developing plug -in hybrid vehicles that year.The sales of this car account for nearly half of the total sales of BYD.
Li Jingyu, a salesperson of a BYD distribution store in Shenzhen, said that many families choose a hybrid vehicle when buying the first car, which is convenient for them to drive back to their hometown during the Spring Festival.Although there are charging piles in many places in China now, when too many people go home to visit relatives during the Spring Festival, the charging pile is not enough.
He said: "Everyone just has the concerns of waiting in line to wait for a long time."