Tears spilled on the spot! Wang Chuanfu talks about BYD's car manufacturing: "I almost can't keep going!" Automobile | Sales | Wang Chuanfu
On August 9th, BYD's 5th millionth new energy vehicle, the Tengshi N7, was officially launched.
At the event, Wang Chuanfu, Chairman and President of BYD, recalled the development process of BYD in the automotive industry for nearly 20 years since 2003. When it comes to the hardships of entrepreneurship, Wang Chuanfu choked up several times on the scene.
Wang Chuanfu said that when BYD first transitioned from the battery industry to the automotive industry, various doubts and mockery were heard. In January 2003, after BYD announced its acquisition of Qinchuan Automobile, the Hong Kong stock price plummeted from HKD 18 to HKD 9; In addition, before the explosive growth in sales in the past two years, BYD had experienced a "darkest moment" in both its technological route selection and research and development investment.
In terms of technical roadmap, BYD released the world's first mass-produced plug-in hybrid F3DM in 2008, equipped with the world's first DM hybrid technology. By 2018, BYD's DM technology had developed to the third generation, but the market's "spring" had not yet arrived.
In 2018, the sales of new energy vehicles in China exceeded 1 million for the first time, reaching 1.256 million units, a year-on-year increase of 61.7%. The plug-in hybrid vehicle market has a smaller capacity, with sales of only 271000 units that year, accounting for only 21.6% of the total sales of new energy vehicles and 27.5% of the sales of pure electric vehicles.
"I almost couldn't go on!" Wang Chuanfu said at the event, "With a small market share and the need for further optimization and breakthroughs in technology, the plug-in hybrid technology route had already been abandoned by many car companies at that time. There was also controversy within BYD about this, but I still want to continue to follow the plug-in hybrid route. I must grit my teeth and persist, even if I go wrong, I will accept it.".
It has been proven that BYD has made the right bet, and the plug-in hybrid route has gradually shifted from being non mainstream to mainstream. Since 2022, the year-on-year growth rate of plug-in hybrid vehicle sales has exceeded that of pure electric vehicles, and its market share has also been steadily increasing. According to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, by the first half of 2023, the cumulative sales of pure electric vehicles reached 2.719 million units, a year-on-year increase of 31.9%, while the sales of plug-in hybrid vehicles reached 1.025 million units, a year-on-year increase of 91.1%. Among them, the production and sales of plug-in hybrid vehicles in June were 235000 and 232000 respectively, both reaching historical highs.
In terms of research and development investment, Wang Chuanfu said that since 2002, BYD has been investing heavily in power batteries, and in 2003, it began the research and development of hybrid technology. Up to now, it has cumulatively invested hundreds of billions of funds.
In the past 12 years, BYD's R&D investment has exceeded its net profit for 11 years, sometimes even 3-4 times its net profit. Wang Chuanfu added, "I vividly remember that from 2017 to 2019, BYD's net profit declined significantly for three consecutive years, especially in 2019, when the company's net profit was only 1.6 billion yuan. However, in R&D, we still gritted our teeth and invested 8.4 billion yuan that year.".
It can be said that BYD's current success stems from a "big gamble". According to Wang Chuanfu's recollection, for a long time, BYD was almost stagnant and stagnant. By 2019, BYD had entered the "darkest moment" with only one goal at that time, which was to survive.
Until March 2020, BYD entered a stage of rapid development after officially launching the "Blade Battery". From the release of the first BYD F3DM in 2008 to the completion of 1 million new energy vehicle production lines in May 2021, BYD took 13 years; From 1 million to 3 million vehicles, BYD only took one and a half years; And from 3 million to 5 million vehicles, BYD only took 9 months.
Wang Chuanfu stated that the accelerated transformation of new energy vehicles is also driving Chinese cars from catching up to surpassing. By 2025, we estimate that the penetration rate of new energy vehicles in the Chinese market will increase to over 60%. In the wave of transformation in new energy vehicles, Chinese brands have great potential; In the next three years, the market share of Chinese brands is expected to increase from 50% to 70%, achieving a leapfrog development.
