Founded in 1995, BYD short for Build Your Dreams, is a leading technology company devoted to leveraging innovations for a better life. It is a publicly listed Chinese conglomerate manufacturing company headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China. It was founded by Wang Chuanfu in February 1995. The BYD company has two major subsidiaries, BYD Auto and BYD Electronic. With more than 27 years of expertise, BYD has established itself as an industry leader in electronics, automotives, renewable energy, and rail transit. As a global leader with more than 30 industrial parks across 6 continents, BYD’s zero-emission solutions, focused on energy generation and storage, are expansive and widely applicable. BYD company became a key player in the transition from gas powered vehicles to electric vehicles by developing the cutting-edge Blade Battery and dual-mode hybrid power technology.
With more than 24 years continuous innovation, BYD offers a wide variety of energy solutions and battery products, such as consumer 3C batteries, power batteries, solar cells and energy storage batteries, and has a complete battery ecosystem. In addition to applications in new energy vehicles and rail transportation, BYD’s battery products are widely used in solar power stations, energy storage power stations and many other new energy solutions. From energy generation and storage to its applications, BYD is dedicated to providing zero-emission energy solutions.
HISTORY OF BYD COMPANY
BYD Co Ltd was founded by Chinese chemist Wang Chuanfu in 1995, but not as an automaker.
The company founder saw the future in power and BYD Co Ltd was formed to be a world leader in energy generation and energy storage, specifically rechargeable batteries, to compete against expensive Japanese battery manufacturers.
To do this, Wang Chuanfu studied the patents and the batteries themselves to determine how they worked and how he could make them better and more affordable; a practice that BYD has used to great effect in the advancement of its diverse product range.
Chuanfu took on an ailing Chinese auto manufacturer in 2002 and by 2003 had made its name as an automotive industry player, though it would be a few years before the company’s first automotive product would be released.
Diversification is a key strength of BYD Co Ltd, and the company’s battery tech, found in many popular brands of cellular phones, laptops, and electronic consumer goods – plus its interests in new energy and rail transit – allowed BYD Auto to successfully step into the world’s automotive stage.
It was 2008 when the Shengzhen-based automaker burst onto the scene when US billionaire investor, Warren Buffet bought into the company with a 10% stake, citing BYD Auto as ‘’one day becoming the largest player in a global automobile market that was inevitably going electric.’’
This had the resultant effect of bringing BYD onto Daimler’s radar, which formed a joint venture partnership with BYD Auto to produce an electrified version of the B-Class MPV – a worthwhile project which could have gone further than it did were it not for Mercedes-Benz’ reluctance to pursue the JV.
Meantime, BYD Auto was still in the business of re-engineering successful vehicles, branding them as BYD products but by 2013 and using its second-generation models as a springboard, elected to step into independent vehicle design and in 2016, appointed ex-Alfa Romeo and SEAT designer Wolfgang Egger as lead design director for BYD.
With more distinctive styling, BYD products came into their own and took on very specific identities, named for Chinese dynasties: the Qin, Tang, Yuan, Song and – most recently – the Han, a mid to large luxury sedan flagship model released in 2020.
The Han has an EV or PHEV powertrain and is best compared to the likes of a Tesla S. It is a car 10 years in development and is the last of BYD Auto’s second-generation models and the first to incorporate BYD Auto’s proprietary Blade battery – arguably the safest battery for the automotive industry.
As an interesting footnote to BYD Auto’s history, the company went to a car producing standstill at the start of the Covid pandemic as did many other manufacturers.
Being an agile company, BYD Auto followed the wheel tracks of other marques and began production of face masks, but – as is typical for BYD, improved on mask production, manufacturing not only masks, but the sewing machines which produce the masks as well.
This demonstration of agility and manufacturing ability has seen BYD Auto weather the storms which have plagued many automakers. BYD Auto can produce many of its vehicle parts in-house and this includes the construction of microchips.
BYD Auto has spun off its component manufacturing ability and formed a new subsidiary – Fudi – which allows direct competitors to purchase BYD components without conflictive branding.
More of the same – in terms of vehicles – will be seen in time as BYD Auto drives its electric and hybrid electric vehicles further out into the world.
As of April 2022, BYD Auto has announced it is no longer producing any form of gasoline-powered vehicles, the first automaker to commit to an exclusively electric future.
“Creating a sustainable future with smart and electric innovations is what we commit and dedicate ourselves to.”
PRODUCTS OF BYD COMPANY
It is the world’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer, and is a major manufacturer in automobiles (battery electric and hybrid cars, buses, trucks, etc.), battery-powered bicycles, forklifts, solar panels and rechargeable batteries (mobile phone batteries, electric vehicle batteries and bulk storage). On April 3, 2022, BYD Auto announced its intention to focus on only electric vehicles
BYD offers electric trucks, electric busses, electric forklifts and even electric rail solutions. The company has become the world’s leading manufacturer of new energy vehicles (NEVs), exceeding more than 200,000 sales per month.
