Thread by @eliotcxchen

I profiled BYD, whose stratospheric rise to become the world's largest EV maker almost beggars belief.

No silver bullet transformed BYD into what it's become; rather, it achieved excellence in several areas all at once — and its competition isn't ready.
thewirechina.com/2023/06/18/byd…

One of the things I found most striking while reporting this piece:

In 2013, BYD's flagship EV, the e6, cost $49,000 b/f subsidies and had a 300km range.

In April, it released the Seagull, with an identical range, which starts at $11,000.

That's a 75% fall in $$ in 10 years.

That ability to slash prices is possible in large part because BYD is incredibly vertically integrated.

That meant that while most of the auto industry was hobbled by the pandemic, BYD was spitting out cars.

Between Q1 '21 and Q1 '23, its sales increased more than 500%.

Or, as @Dunne_ZoZoGo put it to me:

“BYD’s DNA is manufacturing, and they’re notoriously good at driving costs down… That was their origin story, with batteries for mobile phones, and now it’s the same for cars; they drove costs down until they were irresistible.”

@Dunne_ZoZoGo All this has taken place against the backdrop of a larger earthquake happening in the global auto industry:

As Chinese carmakers like BYD take to the international market, China overtook Japan to become the world's top auto exporter for the first time in Q1 of this year.

@Dunne_ZoZoGo As @Brad_Setser puts it:

“We’ve moved into a world where Chinese demand [for cars] is being met by Chinese production — and then some… For China to go from being a net importer to a net exporter in such a short period of time, that is a profound shock for the global economy.”

@Dunne_ZoZoGo @Brad_Setser One place where BYD is likely to have a hard time: the U.S., where it already makes electric buses and trucks.

In 2019, Congress banned Chinese firms from receiving funding from @FTA_DOT, cutting BYD out from large swathes of the commercial market.
washingtonpost.com/transportation…

@Dunne_ZoZoGo @Brad_Setser @FTA_DOT A mini #scoop in our story is that BYD plans on spinning off part of BYD USA, forming a new company called RIDE.

RIDE will bring on American investors and adopt a majority American board. BYD will provide the tech while diluting its stake.
ride.co

@Dunne_ZoZoGo @Brad_Setser @FTA_DOT The contortions BYD is having to go through with RIDE, just to continue operating its commercial division in the U.S., underscores the difficulty facing Chinese automakers in the U.S.

But nearly everyone I spoke to agrees on this: to ignore and lock out BYD would be a mistake.

As Bill Russo of Shanghai's Automobility puts it:

“If you’re not racing with the best horse, you’re racing slower.”

thewirechina.com/2023/06/18/byd…