On February 4, South Korea's ** "Herald Economy" published an article saying that BYD, a Chinese electric vehicle company that focuses on cost-effective strategy, has a rapid growth momentum. In the fourth quarter of last year, BYD surpassed Tesla to become the world's No. 1 pure electric vehicle market in terms of sales, and BYD is now expanding its influence from the local market to the global market.
In 2011, when Elon Musk was asked by a reporter on the show how he saw China's BYD as a competitor, he laughed: "Have you ever ridden in their car? "This is a public mockery of BYD's product competitiveness.
The situation in 2023 has changed dramatically. When asked about his strongest competitor when he announced his results in January last year, he replied that "a certain company in China," which was actually referring to BYD. It also corrected the ridicule of BYD in the past. In May last year, Musk posted: "(Mocking BYD) was a few years ago. Their cars are now competitive."
In fact, BYD has achieved impressive growth momentum over the past few years. The company sold 410,000 units in 2020, 730,000 units in 2021, 1.86 million units in 2022, and 3.02 million units in 2023. In the fourth quarter of 2023, 526409 BEVs were sold, far exceeding Tesla's sales of 484507 units. As a result, BYD won the honor of the champion of eco-friendly car sales for two consecutive years. Compared with the performance of the global vehicle industry, it also ranks among the top 10.
BYD's core competitiveness is "low car prices" and "rich lineup". BYD launched an electric vehicle with a range of more than 400 kilometers of about 30 million won; One of BYD's core models, the Atto 3 compact SUV, is priced at 13 percent in China980,000 RMB. At present, BYD has completed five product lineups: Dynasty, Ocean, Denza, Equation Leopard, and Yangwang.
BYD is not only active in its home market, where sales are stable, but also in exports. The main focus is to conquer the Asian market. BYD recently unveiled three electric vehicles, the Dolphin, Seal and Atto 3 in Indonesia, and announced plans to invest US$1.3 billion to build a production plant in the country. The Indonesian plant will be BYD's fifth overseas production plant after Thailand, Uzbekistan, Brazil, and Hungary. When BYD participated in the Japan Motor Show in October last year, it also set up a booth comparable to Mercedes-Benz and BMW.
While BYD is accelerating its entry into the Asian market, there are also rumors in the industry that BYD may enter the Korean passenger car market. BYD introduced a sedan model and tried to contact a number of dealers in South Korea**. BYD has applied for trademark rights for its models such as the Seal, Dolphin, and Atto 3, and has signed a contract with Korea Public Relations Co., Ltd., which has increased the possibility of entering the Korean sedan market.
However, a BYD official said, "We only sell commercial vehicles in South Korea. There is no conclusion yet on the entry into passenger cars. ”
This may be a "skeptical" judgment made by BYD's headquarters after conducting a study on the possibilities of the electric passenger car market in South Korea. Solid sales of Hyundai and Kia and negative perceptions of electric vehicles in China are also obstacles that cannot be ignored. In 2017, Chinese automaker BAIC Yinxiang launched the Kenbo 600, a mid-size SUV model in South Korea, but the results were lower than expected. The company targeted to sell 3,000 units in its first year on the market, but only sold just over 300 units. At the time, the company tried to win with a low price of around 20 million won, but analysts believe that failing to erase the negative image of Chinese cars is fatal.
The sluggish sales of BYD's 1-ton electric truck, the T4K, which BYD confidently launched in the Korean market, also had an impact. The T4K is BYD's ambition in the South Korean market, claiming that "it will be recognized as the world's best-selling electric truck", but since its launch in April last year, 213 T4K** units have been released. Although it is a Chinese-made truck, it is more expensive than Hyundai's Porter and Kia's Bongo, which is an obstacle. The T4K is priced at 46.69 million won.
A Korean industry official said, "For a product like a car that is closely related to safety, consumer trust is more important than anything else. From this point of view, Chinese companies, which have a weak position in the Korean market, will inevitably be affected. ”