How China's BYD Overtook Tesla

Elon Musk’s Tesla has been overtaken by China’s BYD as the world’s top selling electric carmaker. BYD’s rise is the result of long-term strategic thinking by both the company and the Chinese government. And it’s setting up China to be a dominant player in the global automotive industry. Here are the three most important things that have made BYD the king of EVs.

0:00 Introduction
01:08 China's electric vehicle subsidies
02:13 Cheaper vehicles
03:15 Manufacturing secret sauce: Vertical Integration
05:04 Founder Wang Chuanfu vs Elon Musk
06:14 Global expansion plans

#China #BYD #Tesla
--------

Bloomberg Originals offers bold takes for curious minds on today’s biggest topics. Hosted by experts covering stories you haven’t seen and viewpoints you haven’t heard, you’ll discover cinematic, data-led shows that investigate the intersection of business and culture. Exploring every angle of climate change, technology, finance, sports and beyond, Bloomberg Originals is business as you’ve never seen it.

Subscribe for business news, but not as you've known it: exclusive interviews, fascinating profiles, data-driven analysis, and the latest in tech innovation from around the world.

Visit our partner channel Bloomberg Quicktake for global news and insight in an instant.

[rafaelgino]

Here in Brazil, BYD is making a real revolution. The electric car market has always been more expensive than combustion cars, but with the launch of one of its cheapest models, she managed to cause a small revolution in the market, making car companies (electric and combustion based) lower their prices to compete with her. And this has not only happened in Brazil, I heard that BYD is revolutionizing all over Latin America with his aggressive prices. And all this in a period of less than 1 year! Very crazy!

[reivell]

Europe and USA be like "NOOO don't sell affordable car!!"

[alustin]

First its was Huawei, and then DJI and Tik Tok. It will be interesting to see how the American government tackle this BYD "threat".

[tohhanshen]

Here in Malaysia, BYD went from something nobody knew to that premium EV everybody talks about in just a year. When I was in China, had many rides in BYDs such as the BYD Tang, and indeed they felt very well built and premium in comparison to Toyotas and Hondas there. Impressive.

[drewbledsoe]

BYD becomes so popular now in Thailand and changes Thai car market since end 2022 due to the pricing strategy comparing with Japanese and European cars

[sodazman]

It's not surprising at all. China has a tremendous amount of smart and hardworking people. Far more than the US today. Even Tesla's biggest factory is in China which accounts for over 50% of their manufacturing output.

[yamandoesstuff]

heres a fun fact
in turkey, BYD doesnt stand for "Build Your Dreams". instead, it stands for "Bu gün, Yarın, Daima" Which translates to "Today, Tommorow, Always"

[zhuwang]

Tesla has also enjoyed the Chinese government's support for automakers.

[rickyay]

Jeremy Clarkson on top gear was right when he did a special in China. “If the Chinese can do this much in less than a decade for their vehicles, imagine another ten years?”

[stevehunter]

I experimented 3 years ago and purchased 4 BYD forklifts. Yes, they make those too. I was hesitant to purchase Chinese made equipment but was intrigued by the batteries. The biggest issue with forklifts is battery charging time, which for a typical lead battery in a forklift is 18 hours to do it correctly. Charge, equalize and cool down. The full cycle on the BYD battery is about an hour to hour and a half. That keeps you from having to swap batteries in forklifts which is fairly dangerous moving a 5K pound battery. You can use lithium batteries but they are incredibly expensive and the usable lift is about the same as lead which is 5 years before problems. The BYD batteries have a 10 year warranty. which just does not exist in the regular battery world. If BYD were to start making forklifts in USA they would dominate the market. They are a battery company that is now making things for the batteries to be used in.

[GeraldoeFlavia]

Here in Brazil I just brought my BYD SEAL and I love it. The technology, design and strong power in engine is amazing.

[hi]

Foreign auto companies will also receive subsidies as long as they manufacture electric vehicles in China. Tesla, like BYD, has received many subsidies from the China government.

[greenearth]

I am a 2 year happy owner of model 3 who have tried many different electric vehicles but nothing felt like the tesla. My first BYD ride was an atto 3 and I wasnt impressed by the interior and driving experience.

Yesterday i drove the BYD SEAL and my my was it an experience. Definately far superior build quality, material choice, comfort and design than the model 3 and for the same price. 😱

The only thing it lacked against the Tesla was its OS which was a little confusing but it can probably be worked out fairly quickly.

All I gotta say is whoever underestimate or disregard the chinese automakers will face a rude awakening in the future. I dont see how any automaker will survive against the chinese except for Tesla and some premium german brands.

Congrats to the BYD team from Morocco. You deserved it

[ZLL]

BYD's success is not all attributable to government support. All manufacturers, including US, European, and Japanese companies, benefited from Chinese government's subsidies. Chinese market is actually more open than US and EU, which has encouraged competition and innovation. It's no surprise that giants like BYD would arise there.

[obsidianstatue]

Here in Auckland New Zealand, there are more and more BYD cars on the road.

[pixelsandmagic]

BYD, like many Chinese companies, also invests in supplying markets that are often ignored by most Western companies. In Zimbabwe for example we've only seen a handful of Tesla cars trickle into the country over the past ~10 years, that have to be imported on an individual basis from Asia and the USA. This is partly because of the price of their cars but also because Tesla doesn't even have a dealership on the entire continent of Africa. BYD on the other hand has dealerships popping up across the world; 400+ cities, 70+ countries, and 6 continents. In Zimbabwe, we even have a BYD dealership servicing not only the growing EV market in the country but also the gap in retail, commercial and industrial solar power generation. By the time Tesla and other EV companies decide to supply these markets that they are overlooking, they might not stand a chance.

[ekarata.]

I decided to buy BYD instead of Tesla last month simply due to after sales service. Tesla seems to have insufficient service center here in Thailand (only 1) compare to hundreds of BYD’s.

[azonesuperdia]

I live in thailand, never saw a tesla before but saw a shitload amount of BYD on the road. It felt quite weird when you have a screaming turbo diesel pickup screaming pass you and then you see an ev follow up behind it.

[kevinj]

5:00 that's why Warren Buffett is so rich, such a visionary investor, just 10 years ago, when we call BYD a junk stock, he still kept a large share of BYD stock. A person who can see things so far away deserve to be rich.

[Victorhco]

BYD is super popular nowdays in Brazil with their eletric and hybrid vehicles.

As in other markets, they started here in 2015 with a factory for eletric buses. In november of 2021 was when they started selling cars and since then their sales only grows.

BYD Dolphin was the best selling EV of 2023, the sale of BYD electric models surpassed all other electric models added together and now they are in second position of EV and hybrid best selling brand, only behind Toyota.

The expectation is to start production between the end of 2024 and the beginning of 2025, with installed capacity close to 150, 000 vehicles per year during the first phase of implementation in Brazil.