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When the IAA motor show starts in Munich next week, many Chinese manufacturers will also be represented. The days when they were smiled upon are long gone. The attackers are fresh, young and agile. BYD in particular is attacking VW's electric models head-on with well-thought-out concepts.
By Redaktion Table
Daimler is doubling the pace of its electric strategy. The problem: this makes the Stuttgart-based manufacturer more dependent than ever on the reliable procurement of high-quality battery cells. Can Daimler's Chinese partner Farasis deliver as promised? The company apparently has its doubts – and has now announced the construction of its own gigafactories.
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China's car exports are growing rapidly – and not only in poorer nations. More and more manufacturers are entering the export business. Vehicles are pouring from the People's Republic into all corners of the world. Especially with electric cars, Chinese brands are pushing into new markets, such as Europe. For Chinese manufacturers, this poses new challenges, because the European market has its very own pitfalls.
By Christiane Kuehl
Liuzhou is teeming with small, colorful electric cars. Models that have often been smiled upon and considered as too simple – but these small electric vehicles are more popular in China than ever before. Mainly because people are able to afford the comparatively inexpensive small electric cars. In this city of millions, however, there are also a number of contributing factors.
By Christiane Kuehl
Wolfgang Egger is one of the world's leading car designers. He has developed the Q7 SUV for Audi, the R8 sports car, and the first Audi E-tron concept. At Alfa Romeo, he was responsible for the design of the 8C Competizione, among other things. That could have been enough – but it wasn't enough for him. Now, in his late fifties, Egger is "in the middle of by far the most exciting task of my life," as he says. Since 2016, he has been chief designer at the southern Chinese manufacturer BYD. At the Shanghai auto show, Egger unveiled BYD's new EA-1 compact car, which is designed to rival Volkswagen's ID3, for example. A conversation about iconic compact cars, Chinese design, and what makes working in the People's Republic different from working in Europe.
By Frank Sieren
China BYD Company Limited is a Chinese corporation known primarily for its electric vehicles and batteries. All BYD news are available from the Table Media editorial team.
As a conglomerate, BYD Company Limited is active in various business areas. BYD is best known for its electric cars and electric buses. However, Wang Chuanfu founded the company in 1995 primarily to manufacture rechargeable batteries. In this area, the People's Republic was dependent on imports from Japan (Sony, Sanyo). Instead of industrial robots, Wang Chuanfu relied on the use of poorly qualified and thus cheap labor at BYD. Their work area was extremely reduced, strictly timed and described in detail. The quality was comparable to the products of the robots. Because the government of China needed many jobs, China BYD and Wang Chuanfu were promoted. For example, through high import duties on competing products. This guaranteed growth for the company.
BYD is an acronym and stands for Build your dreams. In the original Chinese, the company is called Bǐyàdí Gǔfēn Yǒuxiàn Gōngsī, or Bǐyàdi for short. For founder Wang Chuanfu, the company motto has definitely come true. With a fortune of around 5.2 billion US dollars, he is one of the forty richest Chinese. The reason for this is China BYD Company Limited's entry into the automotive business. Thanks to unrivaled low prices, Wang Chuanfu had been able to develop his battery factory into the world's market leader by the year 2000. Thanks to full company accounts, he was able to take over the production plants of the financially troubled Xi'an Automobile in 2003.
From the beginning, Wang Chuanfu pursued the plan to build BYD electric cars. Vehicles with combustion engines for the domestic market were only to provide sufficient capital. And this plan also worked out. The BYD Auto division quickly advanced to become one of the largest producers in the People's Republic. With his plans for an electric car, Wang Chuanfu was even able to convince investor Warren Buffet, who entered the company in 2008 and acquired a full ten percent of the group for 230 million dollars. Demand for battery-powered vehicles was growing worldwide, but BYD's electric cars could not keep up.
It wasn't until the Chinese government stepped in that BYD Auto's electric car plans found their way back on track. Production and registration quotas for electric cars caused demand to rise enormously. Today, BYD is one of the most successful electric car manufacturers in the People's Republic. The brand is considered the Tesla of China and the most innovative company in the industry. A reputation that BYD owes above all to its electric buses. Since 2013, for example, the Chinese company has operated the first scheduled service in Europe powered exclusively by battery buses. On the island of Schiermonnikoog in the Netherlands.
China BYD will also sell its electric cars in Germany in the near future. The Chinese brand plans to sell its electric cars in Europe starting in 2021. The European headquarters BYD Europe in the Netherlands will first orchestrate the market entry in Norway. Later, other markets are to be opened up. It is not yet clear exactly when BYD will enter Germany. Norway is considered a supposedly easy market for electric cars. In 2020, 54 percent of all new registrations were electric cars. If plug-in vehicles are included, the figure was 75 percent. The background to this is a strong concession by the government. In many places, drivers of electric cars are allowed to park for free, use the bus lane and have to pay a lower toll.
The conglomerate BYD seems to be a good investment in the long term. The group is the world market leader in the production of cell phone batteries, founder and CEO Wang Chuanfu is well connected in the politics of the People's Republic and BYD Auto is one of the largest car producers in China. Warren Buffett is also convinced of the group's future, and his investments always serve as a pointer. After Warren Buffett joined BYD and Wang Chuanfu presented the first electric car, the share price climbed to an all-time high in March 2010. With the boom in electric cars worldwide and the enormous demand for batteries of all sizes, the share price even tripled in the meantime.
China BYD's electric cars tend to be in the lower price segment. However, this will change in the coming years. The first step is the Han mid-range sedan, which is already available in China. The vehicle is also intended to ensure the brand's success in Europe. The newly developed Blade Battery technology is to be a second building block for future viability. The battery is significantly more compact and can therefore guarantee a greater range with the same size. It is also more robust and less susceptible to accidents. BYD Auto's Blade Battery technology could significantly advance electromobility.
In addition to import duties on batteries and government quotas on electric cars, BYD also benefits from other Chinese government measures. For example, carmakers were only allowed to cooperate with battery suppliers that were on a government list for a number of years. China BYD Company Limited was naturally on this list. Without any help from the government, BYD's electric buses became established on the world market. The vehicles are now in use in 300 cities around the world. This is also the case with Munich's public transport company. The buses are also produced outside China. Among others in Hungary, France and the USA.
Current BYD News and trending topics on Wang Chuanfu are provided by the Table.Media editorial team.