BYD is losing its spark
The Chinese EV giant is struggling to stay ahead in an industry defined by software.
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In the first two months of 2026, Geely ended BYD’s run of more than three years as China’s leading EV seller, though BYD has since reclaimed top spot.
PHOTO: BUSINESS TIMES
The Economist
For years, visitors to the Shenzhen headquarters of BYD, the world’s largest maker of electric vehicles (EVs), have been treated to an explosive safety demonstration. As they peer into a chamber made with thick protective glass, a drill bores into a conventional EV battery, which erupts into flames. Then one of BYD’s signature “blade” batteries is similarly pierced – without the subsequent blast.
BYD was built around batteries. And its founder, Wang Chuanfu, created his car empire using the same rigid vertical integration that made it successful. That entails everything from running its own lithium-processing plants to training its own artificial intelligence models. On May 28, Wang unveiled a semiconductor, designed in-house, that he claimed was the world’s most powerful for self-driving.
