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BYD Co. Ltd. ("Build Your Dreams" Chinese: 比亚迪股份有限公司) is a publicly listed Chinese conglomerate manufacturing company headquartered in
Shenzhen Shenzhen (; ; ; ), also historically known as Sham Chun, is a major sub-provincial city and one of the special economic zones of China. The city is located on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern provi ...
,
Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020 ...
,
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
. It was founded by
Wang Chuanfu Wang Chuanfu (; born 1966) is a Chinese chemist, billionaire entrepreneur, and the founder, chairman and CEO of BYD Company. Early life Wang was born in Wuwei County, Anhui province to a family of poor farmers. While in high school he was cared ...
in February 1995.Company Profile
BYD Official Site
The company has two major subsidiaries,
BYD Automobile BYD Auto Co., Ltd. ("Build Your Dreams") is the automotive subsidiary of the publicly-listed Chinese multinational manufacturer BYD Company, headquartered in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, China. It was founded in January 2003, following BYD Com ...
and BYD Electronic. BYD Company manufactures
automobiles A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded ...
,
buses A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for char ...
,
electric bicycle An electric bicycle (e-bike, eBike, etc.) is a motorized bicycle with an integrated electric motor used to assist propulsion. Many kinds of e-bikes are available worldwide, but they generally fall into two broad categories: bikes that assist ...
s,
truck A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame constructi ...
s,
forklift A forklift (also called lift truck, jitney, hi-lo, fork truck, fork hoist, and forklift truck) is a powered industrial truck used to lift and move materials over short distances. The forklift was developed in the early 20th century by various ...
s,
solar panels A solar cell panel, solar electric panel, photo-voltaic (PV) module, PV panel or solar panel is an assembly of photovoltaic solar cells mounted in a (usually rectangular) frame, and a neatly organised collection of PV panels is called a photo ...
and
rechargeable batteries A rechargeable battery, storage battery, or secondary cell (formally a type of energy accumulator), is a type of electrical battery which can be charged, discharged into a load, and recharged many times, as opposed to a disposable or prima ...
. It has grown to become a major manufacturer of
automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded ...
s (most notably full-electric and
hybrid cars A hybrid vehicle is one that uses two or more distinct types of power, such as submarines that use diesel when surfaced and batteries when submerged. Other means to store energy include pressurized fluid in hydraulic hybrids. The basic princip ...
,
bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...
es,
truck A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame constructi ...
s, etc.), battery-powered bicycles,
forklift A forklift (also called lift truck, jitney, hi-lo, fork truck, fork hoist, and forklift truck) is a powered industrial truck used to lift and move materials over short distances. The forklift was developed in the early 20th century by various ...
,
solar panel A solar cell panel, solar electric panel, photo-voltaic (PV) module, PV panel or solar panel is an assembly of photovoltaic solar cells mounted in a (usually rectangular) frame, and a neatly organised collection of PV panels is called a photo ...
s and
rechargeable batteries A rechargeable battery, storage battery, or secondary cell (formally a type of energy accumulator), is a type of electrical battery which can be charged, discharged into a load, and recharged many times, as opposed to a disposable or prima ...
(
mobile phone A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whi ...
batteries,
electric vehicle batteries An electric vehicle battery (EVB, also known as a traction battery) is a rechargeable battery used to power the electric motors of a battery electric vehicle (BEV) or hybrid electric vehicle (HEV). Typically lithium-ion batteries, they are spec ...
and renewable bulk storage). The name BYD is an abbreviation of "Build Your Dreams".A Small Showing, but With Big Dreams
NICK BUNKLEY Published: 12 January 2009


History

Founded in February 1995 and listed on the
Hong Kong Stock Exchange The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (SEHK, also known as Hong Kong Stock Exchange) is a stock exchange based in Hong Kong. As of the end of 2020, it has 2,538 listed companies with a combined market capitalization of HK$47 trillion. It is rep ...
on 31 JulyCompany Profile
BYD Auto Official Site
2002,to BYD
Company Introduction, BYD Official Site
BYD Co Ltd began as a rechargeable-battery factory competing in the Chinese market against Japanese imports. In 2022, it was claimed in a news report that BYD surpassed Tesla for the world's most electric vehicle sales. This claim is based on BYD sales figures that include over 300,000
plug-in hybrid vehicles Plug-in, plug in or plugin may refer to: * Plug-in (computing) is a software component that adds a specific feature to an existing computer program. ** Audio plug-in, adds audio signal processing features ** Photoshop plugin, a piece of software ...
sold in the first six months of 2022. Plug-in hybrids with internal combustion engines are not fully electric vehicles.


Early growth

BYD grew quickly within ten years capturing more than half the world's mobile-phone battery market and becoming the largest Chinese manufacturer (and in the top four worldwide) of all types of
rechargeable batteries A rechargeable battery, storage battery, or secondary cell (formally a type of energy accumulator), is a type of electrical battery which can be charged, discharged into a load, and recharged many times, as opposed to a disposable or prima ...
. BYD topped the 2010
Bloomberg Businessweek ''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'', is an American weekly business magazine published fifty times a year. Since 2009, the magazine is owned by New York City-based Bloomberg L.P. The magazine debuted in New York City ...
Tech 100 list, a list of large, fast-growing tech companies. Replacing work done by machines with cheap, local labor lowered costs, and the company began expanding beyond batteries adding automobiles and mobile phone components.


Automobiles

A year after the 2002 acquisition of Tsinchuan Automobile Co Ltd, BYD Automobile Co Ltd was born. One of many Chinese automakers, in 2010 it was the sixth largest in terms of sales volume. On April 3, 2022, BYD announced its intention to end production of combustion engine vehicles and focus only on electric vehicles.


Rail transit


Skyrail monorail

In 2016, BYD unveiled a working
monorail A monorail (from "mono", meaning "one", and " rail") is a railway in which the track consists of a single rail or a beam. Colloquially, the term "monorail" is often used to describe any form of elevated rail or people mover. More accurat ...
prototype marketed as "Skyrail" and announced they will enter the global rail transit market. The first public Skyrail line opened as a long loop line in
Yinchuan Yinchuan (, ; ) is the capital of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, China, and was the capital of the Tangut-led Western Xia dynasty. It has an area of and a total population of 2,859,074 according to the 2020 Chinese census, and its built ...
's flower expo in 2018. Since then BYD has begun construction of a number of systems around the world including the
Guang'an Metro Guang'an Metro or Guang'an Rail Transit () or Guang'an SkyRail is a light metro monorail system using BYD SkyRail monorail technology in Guang'an, Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szech ...
and the Guilin Metro in China, Line 17 in São Paulo and the SkyRail Bahia, both in
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
. BYD is also part of a
consortium A consortium (plural: consortia) is an association of two or more individuals, companies, organizations or governments (or any combination of these entities) with the objective of participating in a common activity or pooling their resources ...
that was awarded a pre-development contract to build a monorail from the
San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, California. Located to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it contains a large portion of the City of Los Angeles, as well as unincorporated ar ...
to LAX via the
Sepulveda Pass Sepulveda Pass (elevation ) is a low mountain pass through the Santa Monica Mountains in Los Angeles. It is named after the Sepúlveda family of California, a prominent Californio family that owned the land where the pass lies. It connects the ...
in
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...
.


Rubber-tyred tram

BYD also have a
rubber-tyred tram A rubber-tyred tram (also known as tramway on tyres, french: tramway sur pneumatiques) is a development of the guided bus in which a vehicle is guided by a fixed rail in the road surface and draws current from overhead electric wires (either ...
product, known as "SkyShuttle". Bishan rubber-tyred tram in
Chongqing Chongqing ( or ; ; Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Chungking (), is a municipality in Southwest China. The official abbreviation of the city, "" (), was approved by the State Co ...
is operational.


Mobile phone components

Mobile phone components were added to the BYD product line in the early 2000s. But this business, BYD Electronic, was spun off in 2007.


Subsidiaries

The company has a number of subsidiaries, including
BYD Auto BYD Auto Co., Ltd. ("Build Your Dreams") is the automotive subsidiary of the publicly-listed Chinese multinational manufacturer BYD Company, headquartered in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, China. It was founded in January 2003, following BYD Com ...
. The following is an incomplete list. * BYD (HK) Co Ltd ** Trading in NiCd, NiMH and Li-ion batteries and related products, it is a wholly owned subsidiary of BYD Co Ltd that in turn wholly owns Golden Link Worldwide Limited. Golden Link Worldwide Ltd is an investment holding company incorporated in the British Virgin Islands. A wholly owned subsidiary of BYD (H.K.) Co Ltd, itself a wholly owned subsidiary of BYD Co Ltd, as of 2007 Golden Link held nearly 70% issued share capital of BYD Electronic (International) Co Ltd. * Shenzhen BYD Electronic Parts ** Production and sale of NiMH and NiCD batteries, hardware products, instruments and flexible printed circuit boards are performed by this subsidiary Shenzhen BYD Electronic Parts Co Ltd. * Shenzhen BYD Microelectronics ** Established in 2002,BYD Acquires SinoMOS
tradingmarkets.com Wed. 8 October 2008
it is responsible for the design, production and sale of ICs for use in the mobile phone industry.BYD Said to Buy Wafer Assets
tradingmarkets.com Wed. 8 October 2008
It is registered as a sino-foreign joint venture. * Shenzhen BYD Daimler New Technology Company A joint venture with German
Daimler AG The Mercedes-Benz Group AG (previously named Daimler-Benz, DaimlerChrysler and Daimler) is a German multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is one of the world's leading car manufactu ...
, Denza focuses on producing electric vehicles that eschew the BYD brand name. * BYD Electronics ** An investment holding company incorporated in the Cayman Islands. * BYD Electronic Hungary Kft ** Originally Mirae Hungary Industrial Manufacturer Ltd, and responsible for the manufacture and sale of mobile handset components, BYD Electronic Hungary Kft was purchased from Mirae Industry Co Ltd on 12 February 2008. Prior to the purchase, it manufactured handset housings for Nokia. * Foshan Jinhui Hi-tech Optoelectronic Material ** A joint venture with Foshan Plastic Group Co Ltd and BYD (H.K) Co Ltd,Foshan Plastic Group starts special cell production.(NEWSDESK: Cooperation)(Foshan Jinhui High-Tech Photoelectric Material Co. Ltd.)
China Chemical Reporter, 26 February 2006
it manufactures material ion exchange membranes. * BYD Toyota EV Technology, ** In April 2020, BYD and Toyota completed registration of the new company BYD Toyota EV Technology CO., LTD. (BTET) to jointly Research and Develop battery electric vehicles (BEVs) for the Chinese market.


Corporate affairs

The company has its corporate headquarters in the Pingshan District,
Shenzhen Shenzhen (; ; ; ), also historically known as Sham Chun, is a major sub-provincial city and one of the special economic zones of China. The city is located on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern provi ...
,
Guangdong province Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...
of
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
. Its North American headquarters are in
Downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) contains the central business district of Los Angeles. In addition, it contains a diverse residential area of some 85,000 people, and covers . A 2013 study found that the district is home to over 500,000 jobs. It is a ...
, and BYD has sales offices in various countries. The revenue of company is 64.9 billion (US$10 billion). In 2010, BYD sold a total of 519,800 vehicles, representing 2.9% of the market in China and the sixth largest manufacturer. In 2011, the BYD sales rank was outside the top ten. In 2012, the company became the 9th largest car manufacturer in China, producing over 600,000 vehicles. The majority of vehicles are sold within China; however export markets include Bahrain, the Dominican Republic, Ukraine and Moldova. The North American headquarters opened in
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...
in 2011. As of 2013 BYD Auto sells the e6 and
Electric Bus An electric bus is a bus that is propelled using electric motors as opposed to an internal combustion engine. Electric buses can store the needed electricity on-board, or be fed continuously from an external source. The majority of buses ...
in the United States as fleet vehicles only. BYD has supplied the
Los Angeles Metro The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA), commonly branded as Metro, LA Metro, and L.A. Metro, is the state agency that plans, operates, and coordinates funding for most of the transportation system in Los Angeles ...
system with buses since 2015. A 2018 investigation by the
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...
found reliability issues with the BYD buses.


Production bases and facilities

BYD has many production bases, including three locations in
Shenzhen Shenzhen (; ; ; ), also historically known as Sham Chun, is a major sub-provincial city and one of the special economic zones of China. The city is located on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern provi ...
BYD Co Ltd Company Brochure
BYD Auto Official Site
(one of which is on the self-titled 'BYD Road' () in Pingshan District,
Shenzhen Shenzhen (; ; ; ), also historically known as Sham Chun, is a major sub-provincial city and one of the special economic zones of China. The city is located on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern provi ...
), as well as sites in
Huizhou Huizhou ( zh, c= ) is a city in central-east Guangdong Province, China, forty-three miles north of Hong Kong. Huizhou borders the provincial capital of Guangzhou to the west, Shenzhen and Dongguan to the southwest, Shaoguan to the north, Heyu ...
,
Shanxi Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-leve ...
, and
Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four Direct-administered municipalities of China, direct-administered municipalities of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the ...
. Auto production bases include an automobile assembly line in
Xi'an Xi'an ( , ; ; Chinese: ), frequently spelled as Xian and also known by other names, is the capital of Shaanxi Province. A sub-provincial city on the Guanzhong Plain, the city is the third most populous city in Western China, after Chongqi ...
, a K9 electric bus manufacturing plant in
Dalian Dalian () is a major sub-provincial port city in Liaoning province, People's Republic of China, and is Liaoning's second largest city (after the provincial capital Shenyang) and the third-most populous city of Northeast China. Located on ...
, a photovoltaic module (solar panel) Bloomberg New Energy Finance Tier 1 manufacturing plant in
Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...
, an R&D center and nascent automobile assembly line in Shenzhen, and an R&D center in Shanghai. US operations can be found in
Elk Grove Village, Illinois Elk Grove Village is a village in Cook and DuPage counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Per the 2020 census, the population was 32,812. Located northwest of Chicago along the Golden Corridor, the Village of Elk Grove Village was incorpo ...
, and
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...
, California. BYD also acquired a site for a future North American headquarters in downtown
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...
, and has built and operates a manufacturing plant in
Lancaster, California Lancaster is a charter city in northern Los Angeles County, in the Antelope Valley of the western Mojave Desert in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 173,516, making Lancaster the 153rd largest city in the United ...
, near Los Angeles. In 2019 a bus plant opened in
Newmarket, Ontario Newmarket ( 2021 population: 87,942) is a town and regional seat of the Regional Municipality of York in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is part of Greater Toronto in the Golden Horseshoe region of Southern Ontario. The name stems from th ...
to handle orders in Canada. BYD has three factories in Brazil, the first of which opened in 2015 for the production of electric buses. In April 2017, it inaugurated its second plant for photovoltaic modules. In 2020, BYD opened its third manufacturing plant in the country in Manaus, specifically for lithium iron phosphate batteries, for use in electric buses. BYD has two electric bus assembly facilities in Europe in Komarom, Hungary and Beauvais, France. BYD built a new facility in
Chongqing, China Chongqing ( or ; ; Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Chungking (), is a municipality in Southwest China. The official abbreviation of the city, "" (), was approved by the State Cou ...
for producing its blade batteries, which are considered to be the safest EV batteries. The first plant of the company in India was opened in
Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
.


Recognition


Innovation

The company has been recognized for innovation; for example it has developed technologies that allow mobile phone batteries to be made at room temperature rather than in expensive, heated dry rooms.break all the rules: A special report on innovation in emerging markets; The charms of frugal innovation
economist.com, 15 April 2010
In 2010, BusinessWeek ranked BYD the eighth most innovative company in the world and that same year saw Fast Company ranking BYD as the 16th most innovative. In 2017, PV Magazine awarded BYD the top category of innovation on its newly launched battery storage system that advances progress in three categories: modularity, charging and discharging capacity, and efficiency.


In the media

In September 2008, MidAmerican Energy Holdings, a
subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a ...
of
Warren Buffett Warren Edward Buffett ( ; born August 30, 1930) is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is currently the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He is one of the most successful investors in the world and has a net ...
's Berkshire Hathaway Inc, invested about US$230 million for a 10% (or 9.89%Car Designer Sees China’s Wheels Electric-powered
BYD Press Release, 12 May 2009
) share of BYD at HK$8/ share.


Lawsuits and controversies


Albuquerque buses

In December 2018, the
Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding i ...
council sued BYD over the alleged poor welding, poor battery range, malfunctioning doors and brakes of its buses. BYD denied the allegations, and the lawsuit was settled without money changing hands.


Antisemitic spokesperson

In September 2021, BYD appointed Lu Kewen, an online
influencer An Internet celebrity (also known as a social media influencer, social media personality, internet personality, or simply influencer) is a celebrity who has acquired or developed their fame and notability through the Internet. The rise of social m ...
known for spreading
antisemitic canard Antisemitic tropes, canards, or myths are " sensational reports, misrepresentations, or fabrications" that are defamatory towards Judaism as a religion or defamatory towards Jews as an ethnic or religious group. Since the Middle Ages, such repo ...
s, as a spokesperson for the company.


Vice Media libel lawsuit

On April 27, 2020, BYD hired attorney
Charles Harder Charles John Harder (born November 9, 1969) is an American lawyer at the law firm Harder LLP based in Los Angeles, California. Education and early career Harder graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz with a bachelor's degree ...
and filed a federal civil complaint in U.S. District Court,
Southern District of New York The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (in case citations, S.D.N.Y.) is a federal trial court whose geographic jurisdiction encompasses eight counties of New York State. Two of these are in New York City: New ...
, against
Vice Media Vice Media Group LLC is an American-Canadian digital media and broadcasting company. , the Vice Media Group included five main business areas: VICE.com (digital content); VICE STUDIOS (film and TV production) VICE TV (also known as VICELAND); ...
alleging defamation for a story about BYD using forced Uyghur labor in its
supply chain In commerce, a supply chain is a network of facilities that procure raw materials, transform them into intermediate goods and then final products to customers through a distribution system. It refers to the network of organizations, people, activ ...
which was published on April 11, 2020. BYD's case was dismissed with prejudice (legal term) in March 2021.


Imitating competing models

BYD Auto had been accused of taking designs from other manufacturers. Articles claimed BYD F1 "is a clear copy of the Toyota Aygo," that the BYD S6 "closely apes the
Lexus RX The is a luxury crossover SUV sold since 1998 by Lexus, a luxury division of Toyota. Originally released in its home market of Japan in late 1997 as the Toyota Harrier, export sales began in March 1998 as the Lexus RX. Considered as the first ...
", the
BYD F3 The BYD F3 is a compact car that was produced by BYD and was one of the top selling compact cars in China. Production of the first generation model commenced in September 2005, and facelifts were done in 2014 and 2016 with a few variants spawned ...
"is a copycat of the
Toyota Corolla The is a series of compact cars (formerly subcompact) manufactured and marketed globally by the Toyota Motor Corporation. Introduced in 1966, the Corolla was the best-selling car worldwide by 1974 and has been one of the best-selling cars in ...
the BYD S8 has a similar appearance to a
Mercedes-Benz SL-Class The Mercedes-Benz SL-Class (marketed as Mercedes-AMG SL since 2022) is a grand touring sports car manufactured by Mercedes-Benz since 1954. The designation ''SL'' derives from the German ''Sport-Leicht'' (English: Sport Light). Initially, th ...
, and the BYD F8 "features an almost identical Mercedes-Benz CLK front-end and Renault Megane CC rear". Although the U.S. government had been advised by its consul-general in Guangzhou, China that BYD uses an approach of "copying and then modifying car designs." Chinese courts ruled BYD has not infringed on patents.


Nanjing electric vehicle fraud

In 2016, a peculiar suicide note started an investigation into government subsidy fraud. The auto dealer had been facing bankruptcy and blamed BYD for his situation. According to the note, BYD had received government
subsidies A subsidy or government incentive is a form of financial aid or support extended to an economic sector (business, or individual) generally with the aim of promoting economic and social policy. Although commonly extended from the government, the ter ...
for 600 electric buses it had never produced. A single electric bus went for about 2 million yuan (US$305,000). Of 600 buses, the city had received only a few dozen. That year, the Finance Ministry fined five manufacturers (not including BYD) which had fraudulently obtained more than 1 billion yuan (US$153 million) worth of subsidies. The companies were required to return the subsidies in full and also pay penalties worth an additional 50% of subsidies received. According to the relatives of the man, BYD forced dealerships to increase EV inventories even though sales were bad. In an attempt to clear inventories, dealerships tried selling to people from outside of Nanjing, while simultaneously trying to help them get temporary Nanjing residence documents. But Nanjing would not grant subsidies to outsiders and the dealerships wound up paying the subsidies on 80% of vehicles sold.


Foxconn disputes

In addition to patent litigation
Foxconn Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd., trading as Hon Hai Technology Group in China and Taiwan and Foxconn internationally, is a Taiwanese multinational electronics contract manufacturer established in 1974 with headquarters in Tucheng, New ...
sued BYD in
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...
and
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...
in 2007, alleging BYD poached 50 Foxconn employees and was complicit in the stealing of trade secrets to set up a competing cell phone manufacturing operation. Court proceedings were brought before BYD Electronic was spun off by BYD later in 2007, delaying the public listing on the Hong Kong
stock exchange A stock exchange, securities exchange, or bourse is an exchange where stockbrokers and traders can buy and sell securities, such as shares of stock, bonds and other financial instruments. Stock exchanges may also provide facilities for t ...
by half a year. Foxconn also opened proceedings in the district where BYD is headquartered, at the
Shenzhen Shenzhen (; ; ; ), also historically known as Sham Chun, is a major sub-provincial city and one of the special economic zones of China. The city is located on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern provi ...
Intermediate People’s Court, which referred the case to the
Supreme People’s Court The Supreme People's Court of the People's Republic of China (SPC; ) is the highest court of the People's Republic of China. It hears appeals of cases from the high people's courts and is the trial court for cases about matters of national ...
, which in turn commissioned an appraisal by the Beijing JZSC Intellectual Property Forensic Center into files in BYD's possession which were alleged to belong to Foxconn. Eventually the Shenzhen court made the final judgment: BYD's files contained non-public information originating from Foxconn, which could bring economic benefits to the holders, thereby, BYD was found guilty of infringing Foxconn’s trade secrets. Afterwards, Foxconn withdrew the civil proceedings against BYD in mainland China, and sought
criminal prosecution A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the case in a criminal trial ...
instead. On March 20, 2008, the former executive director and Vice President of BYD was arrested. Then on March 24 and 31 2008 two former employees of Foxconn were arrested and sentenced to 1 year and 4 months, and 4 years in prison respectively. BYD issued a
counterclaim In a court of law, a party's claim is a counterclaim if one party asserts claims in response to the claims of another. In other words, if a plaintiff initiates a lawsuit and a defendant responds to the lawsuit with claims of their own against th ...
to Foxconn in Hong Kong court, alleging
defamation Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...
and bribery of Chinese officials as well as intimidation on Foxconn's part.


Employee overtime

On November 5, 2021, a 36-year-old employee was found dead in a rented home. According to his relatives, his sudden death was due to high-intensity overtime work. The employee worked 12 hours a day, six days a week, with frequent night shifts. Such weeks, known as "996" are illegal in China. BYD claims his death was not a work-related injury, though no autopsy was ever performed, and has settled with his family for 200,000 yuan ($31,369).


Xinjiang forced labor

In 2020, the
Australian Strategic Policy Institute The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) is a defence and strategic policy think tank based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, founded by the Australian government and funded by the Australian and overseas governments, industry ...
accused at least 82 major brands, including BYD, of being connected to forced Uyghur labor in
Xinjiang Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwes ...
.


U.S. tariff circumvention

In 2022, the
United States Department of Commerce The United States Department of Commerce is an executive department of the U.S. federal government concerned with creating the conditions for economic growth and opportunity. Among its tasks are gathering economic and demographic data for bus ...
found that BYD had circumvented tariffs on solar panels by routing its operations through Southeast Asian countries.


See also

*
Lithium iron phosphate battery The lithium iron phosphate battery (LFP (lithium ferro-phosphate), or Li-IP) is a type of lithium-ion battery using lithium iron phosphate () as the cathode material, and a graphitic carbon electrode with a metallic backing as the anode. Becaus ...


References


External links

* {{Hang Seng China Enterprises Index Companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange Companies listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange Companies in the CSI 100 Index Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1995 Chinese companies established in 1995 Electronics companies of China Civilian-run enterprises of China Berkshire Hathaway H shares Electric vehicle battery manufacturers Battery manufacturers Conglomerate companies of China Multinational companies headquartered in China Chinese brands