Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD held its 2021 annual stockholders meeting on Wednesday. Wang Chuanfu, Chairman of BYD, said at the meeting that the first half of developing new energy vehicles (NEV) is electrification and the second half is intelligence.
Recent data show that BYD’s market value has surpassed Volkswagen to become the third-highest among car companies worldwide. Wang Chuanfu said at the meeting that the process of electrification is accelerating, and it is necessary to win by “speed,” and the competition is among the advantages of resources, supply chains and products. In the field of intelligence, all core technologies will be opened up, which will drive cost reductions and efficiency improvement through methods such as expansion.
BYD sold 114,900 vehicles in May, a year-on-year increase of 148.3%, and the sales volume reached a record high. At present, BYD has formed three core series products: Dynasty, Ocean and Denza, and it also launched high-end cars under the name “Han.” Cui Dongshu, Secretary-General of China Passenger Car Association, believes that BYD’s record sales volume lies in its relatively stable supply chains, which can withstand some external risks.
On May 20, BYD released Cell to Body (CTB) technology, and installed it on the E-platform 3.0. CTB technology can improve battery volume utilization and body rigidity, while also reducing weight and costs.
On June 8, Lian Yubo, Executive Vice President of BYD and President of BYD’s Automotive Engineering Research Institute, confirmed that BYD will soon supply batteries to Tesla. Wang Chuanfu said: “The intelligent field will open up all core technologies and conduct full verification.”
However, compared with the increase in automobile sales, BYD’s net profit margin dropped sharply in 2021. Due to the rising prices of upstream raw materials, BYD’s power batteries and NEV manufacturing have faced greater cost pressure. In addition, the profitability of BYD is also restricted by the increasingly strong demand for smart car chips, the impact of COVID-19, and the rising price of semiconductors. Wang Chuanfu said at the meeting that the interests of shareholders should be safeguarded by reducing costs and increasing efficiency.
Regarding the company’s future strategy, Wang Chuanfu said that although there are challenges to developing overseas markets at present, the company still insists on promoting the global EV market. In June 2021, the Tang EV model was exported to Norway. In February of this year, Yuan PLUS was officially launched and has officially entered the Australian market.
