A modern era like a fairy tale That can be told in this story; An orphan in one of China’s poorest regions becomes the world’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer. Even though it looks like a movie, this success story is Wang Chuanfubelongs to

BYD’s vehicles, which he founded, are currently For sale in more than 60 countries; By selling 42,000 more vehicles than its US rival last year, BYD surpassed Tesla to become the world’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer.

Let’s get to know Wang Chuanfu better first.

Born in April 1966 into a poor farming family in China’s Anhui province, Chuanfu attended high school. because their parents are dead He was raised by his older brother and sister.

After high school, she studied metallurgical physical chemistry at Central South Industrial University. won a scholarship and graduated in 1987. Then, in 1990, from Beijing Non-Ferrous Metal General Research Institute. obtained a master’s degree.

After several years as a government researcher, Chuanfu moved to the private sector in 1995, where he worked with his cousin Lu Xiangyang outside Shenzhen. founded a mobile phone battery manufacturing company and they called it BYD Company.

The company was founded with a starting capital of $300,000. Although Chuanfu said the company’s name didn’t represent anything at the time, today we know it means “Build Your Dreams.”

Thanks to their right strategies, they achieved success in the field of cell phone batteries in a short time.

Initially, the company’s strategy was quite simple: imitating successful products And cost as much as possible keep it low. Despite capital-intensive and highly automated processes in Japan, BYD works with short-term contracts. a large workforce employed.

In addition, because they produce the key machines they need for production in-house, they have lower unit costs compared to their Japanese competitors. a significant decrease They provided.

To Motorola in 2000 and to Nokia in 2002 They started supplying batteries. In July 2002 BYD companyworldwide 65% of production became the leading manufacturer of NiCd batteries.

Over the next seven years, it became the second largest producer of NiMH batteries and the third largest producer of Li-ion batteries. consolidated his position.

The birth of Tesla’s nightmare: BYD Auto.

In the early 2000s, the Chinese government attached importance to renewable energy production. subsidy And tax benefits began to foresee.

This period was very suitable timing for BYD because it could use the batteries it produces in electric cars. In 2003, Chuanfu took over Tsinchuan Automobile. BYD Auto was founded.

Initially BYD Auto continued to produce the Flyer, a ready-made model, but in 2005 the first self-designed model appeared, F3He launched. This model Toyota CorollaIt was similar but very bad it was more cost effective.

BYD, which did not produce fully electric vehicles in the first few years, at the end BYD F3DM and BYD M3 DM models in later years hybrid vehicle It started production and achieved great sales success.

their strategies focusmodels compared to foreign competitors more affordable and at the same time compared to its Chinese competitors it was of better quality. This strategy ranged from producing 20,000 Flyers in 2003 to producing half a million vehicles in 2010. let them grow.

The beginning of uncontrolled growth begins with the discovery of Warren Buffett.

In the late 2000s, Warren Buffett looked at the growth of car demand in China He wanted to seize the opportunity. On the advice of business partner Charlie Munger He turned his gaze to BYD.

Munger to Buffett, referring to Chuanfu he said: “This man is a combination of Thomas Edison and Jack Welch; like Edison in solving technical problems and like Welch in getting things done. I’ve never seen anything like it.” said.

When launching its business, Chuanfu used some water to impress investors and emphasize how clean the batteries were. drank battery fluid.

This impressive move must have worked because Berkshire Hathaway wanted to buy 25% of BYD. But Chuanfu, who was reluctant to sell much of the company, rejected the offer.

Chuanfu’s principled approach assess positively Berkshire Hathaway to BYD for $230 million invested. By focusing on the domestic market before this investment, the company attracted the attention of investors around the world and accelerated the company’s expansion into new markets and growth. BYD was valued at $5.1 billion in 2009 and Chuanfu made his Forbes debut China’s richest people was at the top of the list.

Their income doors have never been closed, thanks to their ability to adapt to any conditions.

Although there was a decline in sales, BYD sometimes managed to get things back on track. from the Chinese cities of Shenzhen and Hunan public transport contracts signed; it also struck deals with Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Los Angeles.

Today, BYD has more than 50,000 customers worldwide. Manufacturer of electric buses It has more than 1,000 vehicles on the road or in production at its location and in the United States.

They have a big factory in California and in this factory trucks, forklifts and buses They produce other tools such as.

BYD is also aware that there is no point in producing vehicles in China and then transporting its models to other countries. For this reason the company is in Europe first production facility Last month it was announced that it would open in Hungary.

During the beginning of the pandemic, many brands supply chain problems Although BYD encountered this problem, it easily avoided this problem. managed to turn it to his advantage.

It also became one of the first Chinese companies to start producing masks during the pandemic, and within a few months the world’s largest producer became.

The beginning and result of the competition with Tesla.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk, in an interview with Bloomberg in 2011 during the interview When asked about his opinion of BYD, he sarcastically replied, “Have you ever seen their cars?” he laughed.

BYD takes over Tesla’s throne and the world’s largest manufacturer of electric vehicles That said, Elon Musk is probably now he doesn’t mock.

That was many years ago. Their cars are very competitive these days.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 27, 2023

In fact, early 2023 when this interview is shown “That was many years ago. Their cars are extremely competitive these days,” he noted.

Today, BYD is worth about $78 billion; This, Only 10% of Tesla’s market value Nevertheless, the company continues to work to maintain and further develop its current position.

Experts say BYD still exists has not yet reached its maximum potential. Will BYD’s growth continue at the same pace in the coming years? Time will tell.

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