BYD Auto

The Qinchuan QCJ7081 Flyer, later sold as a BYD

The BYD stand at the 2009 Central China High-Tech Fair in Shenzhen

BYD Co Ltd created the wholly owned subsidiary BYD Auto a year after its 2002 acquisition of the Norinco-owned Qinchuan Machinery Works,[6] which may have been made solely to acquire the passenger car production license held by the purchased company.[7] Qinchuan had been manufacturing cars since 1987, when the company began production of the 0.5 L (30.5 cu in) QJC7050 model.[8] At the time of the acquisition, the QCJ7181 Flyer was in production, which from 2005 was rebadged to the "BYD Flyer."

In 2008, a plugin hybrid version of the BYD F3 compact sedan was introduced.[9] Total sales in 2009 were 448,400 vehicles.[10] In the same year, BYD began the export of its cars to Africa, South America and the Middle East, where the cars competed on price, not quality.[11]

In 2012, the municipal government of Shenzhen purchased 500 BYD E6 cars for use as taxis.[12] A total of 506,189 passenger cars were sold in China in 2013, making it the tenth-largest selling brand.[13]

In 2013, BYD was awarded The Top Crash Facility Award of the year 2013.[14]

In 2014, the BYD Qin plug-in hybrid had total sales of 14,747 (plus a relatively small number of sales in Latin America),[15][16] In 2015, sales of the Qin increased to 31,898[17] and the Qin was the 88th highest selling sedan in China.[18] In 2016, the BYD Tang plug-in hybrid SUV had 31,405 sales, the plug-in hybrid version of the Qin compact sedan had 21,868 sales and the BYD e6 electric compact MPV had 20,605 sales.[19] By 2016, total sales of the Qin were 68,655 cars.[19][20]

BYD US Headquarter in Los Angeles

In 2015, the company was planning to open factories in Brazil to produce electric cars and buses.[21] In July 2015, exports to Russia were suspended, due to the war in Ukraine and the falling value of the Russian currency.[22] BYD was the highest selling brand of highway legal light-duty plug-in electric vehicles (combined sales for plug-in hybrids and battery electric cars),[23] with 61,772 passenger vehicles sold, mostly plug-in hybrids.[24] BYD continued as the world's top selling plug-in car manufacturer in 2016 with over 100,000 units sold, up 64% from 2015. BYD sold more than 100,000 new energy passenger cars in China in 2016. The BYD Tang was the top selling plug-in car in China in 2016 with 31,405 units delivered.

BYD achieves top rankings of 2015 J.D Power's Quality Study.[25]

In September 2016, the company became the third largest manufacturer of plug-in cars, with a total of 161,000 plug-in cars produced since 2008.[26] Also in September 2016, the company introduced a range of electric sanitation truck models, to be used in Beijing.[27]

Since 2017, BYD has been negatively impacted by a reduction of subsidies that were granted by the Chinese government.[28][29][30][31]

In May 2020, BYD announced that it would start expanding in Europe, with Norway first. BYD's launch will consist of the Tang SUV and a range of commercial vehicles.[32]

Mercedes-Benz CLK-Class

BYD S8

In 2019, BYD launched its global design center, which is led by a team of industry veterans from Audi, Ferrari, and Mercedes-Benz. Leading the team is Wolfgang Egger. The carmaker unveiled its E-SEED GT, the first joint effort from the new design team, at the Auto Shanghai industry show in April 2019. The futuristic design concept reflects the sleek lines of the Chinese dragon, and the company plans to feature more Chinese cultural symbols in future models.[40]

BYD Auto had been accused of taking designs from other manufacturers. Articles claimed BYD F1 "is a clear copy of the Toyota Aygo,"[41] that the BYD S6 "closely apes the Lexus RX",[42] the BYD F3 "is a copycar of the Toyota Corolla[43] the BYD S8 has a similar appearance to a Mercedes-Benz SL-Class,[44] and the BYD F8 "features an almost identical Mercedes-Benz CLK front-end and Renault Megane CC rear".[45] 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.[46]

A company logo formerly used by BYD Auto from 2005-2009 strongly resembled the BMW logo.[47][48]

In December 2018, the Albuquerque council filed a lawsuit against BYD for "issues including bolts falling off doors, doors opening on their own and battery range issues".[49] BYD disputed the city's allegations and disputed Mayor Tim Keller's "false and misleading statements." [50] The lawsuit was settled with no money changing hands. A joint statement was issued in May 2019.[51]

Facilities consist of two manufacturing plants in Xi'an, an R&D center and manufacturing plant in Shenzhen (the headquarters of BYD Co Ltd), a manufacturing plant in Changsha, a manufacturing plant in Shaoguan, and an R&D center and parts plant in Shanghai.[52] Construction of a third manufacturing plant in Xi'an resumed in 2011, following the company being fined for illegal land use.[53]

Manufacturing plants for buses opened in Dalian, Liaoning province in late 2014[54] and Lancaster, California in May 2013.[55][56]

In May 2010, the Shenzhen BYD Daimler New Technology Co., Ltd., trading as "Denza" was established with Daimler AG[57] to produce luxury electric vehicles.[58] The Denza 500 model is based on the previous generation Mercedes-Benz B-Class.[59]

In 2010, BYD Auto sold a total of 519,800 vehicles, representing 2.9% of the market in China and the sixth largest manufacturer.[52][60] In 2011, the BYD sales rank was outside the top ten.[61] In 2012, the company became the 9th largest car manufacturer in China, producing over 600,000 vehicles.[62]

The majority of vehicles are sold within China, however export markets include Bahrain,[63] the Dominican Republic,[64][65] Ukraine[66] and Moldova.[67]

The North American headquarters opened in Los Angeles in 2011.[68] As of 2013 BYD Auto sells the e6 and Electric Bus in the United States as fleet vehicles only. BYD has supplied the Los Angeles Metro system with buses since 2015. A 2018 investigation by the Los Angeles Times found reliability issues with the BYD buses.[69]

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• List of automobile manufacturers of China