Cars: BYD overtakes Volkswagen in China
Volkswagen it is no longer the best-selling car brand in China. To make a historic overtaking, which puts an end to one leadership that had lasted since 2008And Byd, Shenzen group with about 300 thousand employees and at the forefront of electric vehicles. In the first three months of the year (data Bloomberg) the Chinese company made 440,000 deliveries against the 427,247 of the brands of the German group. Overtaking takes place earlier than expected. The president of BYD, Wang Chuanfu he had in fact declared that the House aimed to overtake Volkswagen “by the end of the year”.
Alarm bell
The progression of sales of the Dragon giant is impressive: BYD sold last year 1.86 million vehicles, more than it has in the previous four years combined. Not only: 70% of electric cars sold in China in the first quarter of this year are badged Byd against a 6% of VW. And even if the German company doesn’t make a fuss about it (“Byd is very strong – declared the CEO of the German group Oliver Blume– In the end, however, not everything concerns the volume”) the overtaking marks the end of the era that saw China as a land of conquest for brands from the Old Continent. And therefore it is an alarm bell for all western producers.
From conquered to conquerors
BYD not only wins at home, but is the leader of a large group of Chinese giants that have targeting the European market. The Shenzhen brand is already present in various countries of the Old Continent including Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany. At the moment, sales have not started yet in Italy but it has already been announced that two models will be marketed in the coming months. Globally, the brand is present in over 70 countries.
Not just cars
The Chinese House is not only active in the car field. In fact, a corporate sector also deals with battery production. In this regard, in 2022, Byd became the second largest producer in the world of accumulators behind Catl and in front of Lg. But it is recent news that BYD will build a new mega plant for the construction of cells in China which will further increase its production capacity.