BYD has a bold plan to expand into overseas markets

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China is supposedly a communist country, but its economy is the closest thing the world has ever seen to bare capitalism, where “kill or be killed” is the modus operandi. BYD understands this better than most and is doing everything they can to win the King Of The Mountain bragging rights.

Conventional wisdom says that if you build a better mousetrap, the world will beat a path to your door. But if a thousand people try to build a better mousetrap, not everyone will succeed. At present, there are dozens of former automakers in China with market shares of less than 1 percent – and often much less.

The Chinese government may have provided significant financial and political support to the electric vehicle sector, but this is due to a national insistence that electric transportation is essential to taming the country’s massive emissions. It has no intention of supporting unprofitable companies. I made it very clear that if they wither and die because they are unable to compete in the market, the government will not step in to save them. It doesn’t get more “free market” than that.

Market share is a great thing, if you have it. It allows you to withstand the loss of your products in the short term in order to achieve profits in the long term. Many years ago, I was in a Cumberland Farms store early in the morning. The manager was on the phone with the district office, informing him that Bob’s Discount Gas across the street had just lowered the price of gasoline. The office instructed the manager to set its price one penny below the competition. Today there are hundreds of Cumberland Farms locations but only a few Bob’s Discount Gas locations. This is the power of market share.

BYD targets overseas markets

While its peers in China are outpacing each other — selling cars for less than they cost to manufacture in many cases — BYD is looking across oceans and plans to invest where competition is less fierce and the potential for profit is greater than at home.

According to Bloomberg, BYD is aggressively pursuing a plan to build factories, establish dealer networks, and provide charging infrastructure to customers in Europe, led by the company’s indefatigable vice president, Stella Lee, who seems to be everywhere all the time and puts in more hours than Elon Musk.

Some readers may remember the early 1950s when Japanese brands began targeting the American market. It was only when they started producing cars in North America that their sales took off and they were able to successfully challenge the Detroit Big Three.

As part of a press tour in Zhengzhou recently, Stella Li said BYD is in the process of installing production machines at its first European factory in Hungary. This factory is expected to begin trial production in the first quarter of 2026, and full production is scheduled to begin before the end of the second quarter.

The plant is part of a global production shift that includes new BYD plants in Brazil and Turkey to complement the existing plant in Thailand that has been shipping cars to Europe since August. While admitting that initial production costs in Hungary will exceed those in China, Li stressed that this investment is key to achieving the long-term goal of creating a sustainable and trustworthy brand in the region. Once this goal is achieved, it will reduce production costs and help mitigate potential volatility caused by tariffs.

Although the company has not yet decided whether it will build another factory in Europe, Lee confirmed that the team is actively exploring additional locations, with Spain currently the main competitor. Spain has an active car manufacturing sector, thanks to the SEAT brand which is now part of the Volkswagen Group. “We will ramp up our factory in Hungary first, then the factory in Brazil, then the factory in Türkiye,” he told me. “Then we’ll see what’s next, but we don’t have a clear plan yet.”

In order to strengthen commitment to regional needs, Wang Quanfu, CEO of BYD, recently directed that R&D leaders be sent to Europe, Latin America and the Middle East to tailor vehicle design and technology to specific local conditions.

Strong sales in Europe

BYD is already receiving significant attention in major European markets. In October, the company registered more than four times as many vehicles as Tesla in Germany and nearly seven times as many Tesla vehicles in the UK, according to data from the relevant federal and trade body. Of course, BYD offers hybrid models in several European countries to avoid tariffs on battery electric cars — something Tesla can’t do.

Despite strong overseas sales, BYD’s deliveries in China fell 1.8% in the third quarter, despite a strong increase in battery electric vehicle sales, as competition from other Chinese competitors such as Nio, Xpeng, Leapmotor, Great Wall, Li Motors and others weighs on BYD. Stock analysts warn that the company could miss its estimated 2025 total shipments of 4.6 million units.

To raise its image and boost profit margins, BYD is preparing to launch its luxury brands Denza and Yangwang in Europe, targeting brands ranging from Volvo to Ferrari. The high-end offerings will operate through separate, dedicated stores, Lee said. The reference to Ferrari is no joke. The Yangwang U9 Extreme is the world’s fastest production car. It has been clocked at 308 mph in testing and recently became the first production car to complete a lap of the extremely challenging Nurburgring Nordschleife circuit in less than 7 minutes.

BYD is targeting upscale buyers with the Denza Z9 GT, a flagship model that challenges luxury cars like the Porsche Taycan Sport Turismo and BMW i5 Touring. The Z9 GT was unveiled earlier this year at design shows, and will be available as a battery electric or hybrid. Pricing details are expected soon.

The luxury brand Yangwang, which represents the pinnacle of the group’s technology, is likely to follow Denza into Europe in the second half of 2027, after making its debut in the Middle East next year. “I told my team I would give them one year, then I would go to the supermarket and ask people if they knew about BYD,” Lee said. “I hope the answer is 100 percent.” If you asked those same people which brand of electric or battery-powered car they would buy, she expects 45% of them to say “BYD.”

Electric cars and flash charging too

The car’s offering is complemented by a special fast charging solution, which has a capacity of up to 1,000 kilowatts, a number that significantly exceeds most current European fast chargers. Li aims to deploy between 200 and 300 flash charging stations across Europe by Q2 2026, with an aggressive goal to expand that network to 3,000 locations by the end of 2026.

To achieve this, BYD uses battery storage in several fast charging stations. It also prioritizes rapid installation of existing Chinese dealer sites and facilities, allowing the company to bypass lengthy approval procedures.

Does anyone other than me think that what BYD is doing is exactly what we expected Tesla to do a few years ago, before it decided not to be a car company but become a robotics and AI company instead? If the world needs to transition to electric transportation, BYD shows how to make it happen. Tesla? Not much.