CEO presented the goal at a shareholders' meeting and pointed to the second generation of the Blade battery as the engine of growth
BYD wants to become the world’s largest automaker within five years, overtaking Toyota and Volkswagen Group in sales volume. The goal was announced by the company’s chairman, Wang Chuanfu, during the annual shareholders’ meeting in Shenzhen, China.
According to the executive, the second generation of the Blade battery will be one of the pillars to support this expansion. “BYD will become, in fact, the number 1 in the world in scale in five years,” said Wang, according to Reuters. The sixth largest automaker on the planet in 2025, the company already sells more than Ford and now aims to lead Japan’s Toyota.
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The size of the challenge appears in the numbers: last year, BYD sold 4.6 million vehicles – which made it the largest manufacturer in China – compared to 11.21 million for Toyota, adding the Lexus and Daihatsu brands. Considering only the Toyota brand, there were 9.6 million units. To catch up with its rival, BYD would need to grow by about 1 million units per year over the entire period — a pace that the publication itself classifies as extremely difficult.
The task comes up against the slowdown that affects the entire Chinese automotive market and has slowed down the automaker’s local advance. In May, BYD sold 207,372 vehicles in China, down 29.2% year-on-year. In the face of the domestic downturn, international expansion has become a priority — Canada is pointed out by the publication as one of the most relevant markets in this movement. The objective is to reduce dependence on the domestic market, which is currently responsible for most of the brand’s sales.
The announcement comes amid pressure on BYD shares, which have fallen more than 45% in the last year. Reuters reported that the company’s shares fell on the same day as the statement.
