BYD founder Wang Chuanfu bets on new tech to win back customers as sales decelerate

Company is pinning its hopes on a 12,000-strong R&D team to come up with technological breakthroughs

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In 2022, BYD dethroned Tesla for the first time as the world’s largest EV builder. Photo: Reuters

Published: 8:05pm, 5 Dec 2025Updated: 8:20pm, 5 Dec 2025

BYD, China’s electric vehicle (EV) king, is pinning its hopes on next-generation technology to engineer a turnaround in sales amid fierce competition in the world’s largest automotive market, according to its founder and chairman Wang Chuanfu.

Speaking at a shareholders’ meeting in Shenzhen on Friday, the billionaire said the company’s 12,000 engineers – the backbone of the carmaker – would help it regain a technological edge over rivals.

“We have heavyweight new technology in the pipeline,” he was quoted as saying by the official China Securities Journal. “These will be announced later, as it is not convenient for me to disclose more details now.”

He listed faster charging speeds as one of the areas BYD was looking to improve.

BYD founder and chairman Wang Chuanfu. Photo: VCG/VCG via Getty Images

Wang also tried to allay concerns among investors about BYD’s competitiveness on the mainland, where it faced a stern challenge from smaller rivals such as Xiaomi and Leapmotor.

In September, BYD, the world’s largest EV assembler in terms of deliveries, lowered its sales target for this year by 16 per cent to 4.6 million units from a previous forecast of 5.5 million, according to Reuters, which cited unidentified sources. The revised target represents a 7 per cent year-on-year increase.

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