BYD moves to shift mass market image with souped-up racetrack

Hong Kong – The name BYD is mainly associated with mass market electric vehicles. A manufacturing behemoth that churns out more electric cars than anyone else on the planet, it is a brand built on volume and affordability. 

BYD cars have become a common sight on China’s roads and a favourite among city taxi and ride-hailing drivers. It has given rise to a popular joke – while BYD officially stands for “Build Your Dreams”, many quip it is short for “Be Your Driver”.

Now, BYD is trying to rewrite that narrative, launching luxury models priced over US$200,000 (S$257,000). Its latest effort to shed its utilitarian skin has involved building an entire automotive racing and testing playground to bring potential customers from the street to the track. 

The Shenzhen-based automaker opened the “all-terrain circuit” in Zhengzhou, a city with more than 10 million people in central China, earlier in August. It is part of a plan to invest five billion yuan (S$895 million) to set up tracks that are open to the public and designed specifically for new energy vehicles.

For an entry fee of 599 yuan, rev heads can get an hour-long taste of the action, including test driving a popular volume model and a track ride in the one million yuan Yangwang U9.

The Gymkhana-style drills kind of feel like a paid sales promotion, however for a few dollars more, aspiring racers can pay for access to a wider range of BYD’s premium line-up and that is when things get interesting. Drivers can experience flooring it on a 550m-long straight way and try out standard slalom, a graceful, repetitive zigzag manoeuvre, or moose testing, a more aggressive, single emergency swerve designed to test a car’s stability and agility.

There is even a dune built with over 6,000 tonnes of sand that offers a steep incline of almost 30m, plus a pool, where Yangwang electric vehicles (EVs) can be put through their paces in water.

BYD opening all this up to the public is a departure of sorts, considering legacy carmakers tend to keep tracks private for research and development purposes. Some luxury brands, like BMW and Porsche, offer track tests for buyers of their high performance cars, but generally the focus is on a single experience.

BYD is not the only Chinese automaker tapping motor sports. Zhejiang Geely Holding Group has built several tracks, including the Ningbo International Circuit, and founder and chairman Li Shufu has even proposed to the government that racetracks meeting international standards be supported with land and tax benefits.

Xiaomi Corp’s SU7 Ultra prototype meanwhile broke the lap record at the world-famous Nurburgring track in Germany’s Eifel mountains, and the tech giant has a club for certified Xiaomi racers. 

For racing purists, BYD’s concept will present a paradox. The very essence of motor sports has long been tied to the visceral experience: the roar of the engines, the vibration of a car’s body and the raw, unfiltered feedback from the road. 

EVs, by contrast, are defined by their near-silent operation and instantaneous, linear acceleration. An old-school racer, accustomed to the tactile feel of a manual gear shift, might see the quiet hum of an electric motor as a betrayal of the sport’s spirit.

The growing number of intelligent and automated features could be even more frustrating. 

In traditional racing, the driver’s skill – the precise manoeuvring of the clutch, brake and throttle – is what pushes the car to its limits. But racing an EV with driver-assisted functions can feel as though the car, rather than the driver, is making most of the adjustments.

“It really depends on your personal definition of ‘driving pleasure’,” said Mr Sean Zhou, a Shanghai-based F1 commentator and automotive influencer. “There’s no doubt it’s fast, but whether you’ll enjoy it is a completely subjective matter.” 

Probably BYD is not trying to convert die-hard gear-heads but rather build a new driving culture without alienating its core customer base. As well as race drills and circuits, the Zhengzhou track allows for more mundane things like intelligent all-wheel drive and automated parking practice.

BYD is not stopping at one. Other cities including Hefei and Shaoxing, both a few hours’ drive from Shanghai, are on the list for their own ultra experience tracks.

Having captured the mass market, a carmaker like BYD only has two options to climb the brand ladder, according to Mr Zhou.

“Either it gets super luxurious, like a Rolls-Royce, or it gets super sporty, like a Ferrari. Ultimately, a brand’s pricing power is determined by the emotional value it offers, and that value can only be delivered in a few key ways.” BLOOMBERG