Elon Musk once scoffed at the notion that BYD could compete with his company. Now, the automaker run by billionaire Wang Chuanfu is poised to be the new No. 1 in electric vehicles.
埃隆·马斯克（Elon Musk）曾经嘲笑比亚迪可以与他的公司竞争的想法。现在，这家由亿万富翁王传福经营的汽车制造商有望成为电动汽车的新第一。
By Danny Lee
2023年12月27日 at GMT+8 08:00
China’s BYD Co. bills itself as the biggest car brand you’ve never heard of. It might need a different tagline soon.
中国的比亚迪公司自称是你从未听说过的最大汽车品牌。它可能很快需要一个不同的标语。
The automaker is poised to surpass Tesla Inc. as the new worldwide leader in fully electric vehicle sales. When it does — likely in the current quarter — it will be both a symbolic turning point for the EV market and further confirmation of China’s growing clout in the global automotive industry.
该汽车制造商有望超越特斯拉公司，成为全球全电动汽车销售的新领导者。届时（可能在本季度），这将是电动汽车市场的象征性转折点，并进一步证实中国在全球汽车行业日益增长的影响力。
In a sector still dominated by more familiar names like Toyota Motor Corp., Volkswagen AG and General Motors Co., Chinese manufacturers including BYD and SAIC Motor Corp. are making serious inroads. After leapfrogging the US, South Korea and Germany over the past few years, China now rivals Japan for the global lead in passenger car exports. Some 1.3 million of the 3.6 million vehicles shipped from the mainland as of October this year were electric.
在丰田汽车公司（Toyota Motor Corp.）、大众汽车公司（Volkswagen AG）和通用汽车公司（General Motors Co.）等更熟悉的名字仍然主导的行业中，包括比亚迪和上汽集团在内的中国制造商正在取得重大进展。在过去几年中超越美国、韩国和德国之后，中国现在与日本相媲美，成为全球乘用车出口的领先者。截至今年10月，从内地运出的360万辆汽车中，约有130万辆是电动汽车。
“The competitive landscape of the auto industry has changed,” said Bridget McCarthy, head of China operations for Shenzhen-based hedge fund Snow Bull Capital, which has invested in both BYD and Tesla. “It’s no longer about the size and legacy of auto companies; it’s about the speed at which they can innovate and iterate. BYD began preparing long ago to be able to do this faster than anyone thought possible, and now the rest of the industry has to race to catch up.”
“汽车行业的竞争格局已经发生了变化，”总部位于深圳的对冲基金雪牛资本（Snow Bull Capital）的中国业务主管布里奇特·麦卡锡（Bridget McCarthy）说，该公司已经投资了比亚迪和特斯拉。“这不再是关于汽车公司的规模和传统;这关乎他们创新和迭代的速度。比亚迪很久以前就开始准备，以便能够比任何人想象的都快做到这一点，现在该行业的其他公司必须争分夺秒地迎头赶上。
BYD’s Wang Chuanfu greeting attendees at an event in Santiago on Oct. 6.10月6日，比亚迪的王传福在圣地亚哥的一场活动中向与会者致意。Photographer: Cristobal Olivares/Bloomberg摄影师：Cristobal Olivares/Bloomberg
The passing of the EV sales crown also reflects the shift in competitive dynamics between Tesla’s Elon Musk, the world’s richest executive, and BYD’s billionaire founder Wang Chuanfu.
电动汽车销量桂冠的逝去也反映了特斯拉全球首富埃隆·马斯克（Elon Musk）和比亚迪亿万富翁创始人王传福之间竞争态势的转变。
Whereas Musk has been warning that not enough consumers can afford his EVs with such high interest rates, Wang is firmly on the offensive. His company offers half a dozen higher-volume models that cost much less than what Tesla charges for its cheapest Model 3 sedan in China.
虽然马斯克一直警告说，没有足够的消费者买得起如此高利率的电动汽车，但王毅坚定地处于攻势。他的公司提供六款大批量车型，价格远低于特斯拉在中国最便宜的Model 3轿车的价格。
When a Tesla owners’ club shared a clip in May of Musk snickering at BYD’s cars during a 2011 appearance on Bloomberg Television, Musk wrote back that BYD’s vehicles are “highly competitive these days.”
今年5月，当特斯拉车主俱乐部分享了一段马斯克在2011年彭博电视台（Bloomberg Television）露面时对比亚迪汽车窃笑的片段时，马斯克回信说，比亚迪的汽车“如今竞争非常激烈”。
BYD vs. Tesla: More Models at Lower Prices
比亚迪与特斯拉：以更低的价格购买更多车型
Comparing entry prices and sales in China
比较中国的入门价格和销售额
Sources: Snow Bull Capital China EV Database, China Passenger Car Association
资料来源：雪牛资本中国电动汽车数据库、中国乘用车协会
Notes: Shows passenger vehicles sold through October this year in China. Only models with more than 10,000 sales are displayed. Entry price is the minimum price observed across cities and variants.
注：显示截至今年10月在中国销售的乘用车。仅显示销量超过 10,000 的车型。入场价格是不同城市和变体的最低价格。
The likely change in the global EV pecking order marks the realization of a goal that Wang, 57, set back when China was just starting to foster its now world-beating electric car industry. While BYD continues to pull away from Tesla and all other auto brands at home, replicating its runaway success abroad is proving tricky.
全球电动汽车啄食顺序的可能变化标志着57岁的王岐山在中国刚刚开始培育其世界领先的电动汽车产业时设定的目标的实现。虽然比亚迪继续在国内远离特斯拉和所有其他汽车品牌，但事实证明，在国外复制其失控的成功是很棘手的。
Europe looks poised to join the US in slapping Chinese car imports with higher tariffs to shield thousands of manufacturing jobs. Other countries’ EV markets are still in their infancy and aren’t nearly as lucrative. Management views the US as virtually off-limits due to the escalating trade tensions between Washington and Beijing.
欧洲似乎准备加入美国的行列，以更高的关税打击中国汽车进口，以保护数千个制造业工作岗位。其他国家的电动汽车市场仍处于起步阶段，利润不高。管理层认为，由于华盛顿和北京之间的贸易紧张局势不断升级，美国几乎是禁区。
China’s Car Exports Catch Up With Japan’s
中国汽车出口赶上日本
The two nations are neck and neck this year
两国今年并驾齐驱
Source: China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, Association of the German Automotive Industry, Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association,
资料来源：中国汽车工业协会、日本汽车工业协会、德国汽车工业协会、韩国汽车工业协会、
Note: Data for 2023 are through October.
注：2023 年的数据截至 10 月。
Wang is no Musk — he eschews social media and largely steers clear of the limelight. But in an uncharacteristically brash address delivered weeks before the European Union opened an investigation into how China has subsidized its EV industry, Wang declared the time had come for Chinese brands to “demolish the old legends” of the auto world.
王不是马斯克——他避开社交媒体，在很大程度上避开了聚光灯。但是，在欧盟开始调查中国如何补贴其电动汽车行业几周前，王毅发表了一次不同寻常的傲慢讲话，他宣称中国品牌是时候“打破汽车界的古老传说”了。
While many car buyers outside of China are still only dimly aware of BYD, Warren Buffett surely isn’t. In 2008, Berkshire Hathaway Inc. invested about $230 million for an almost 10% stake in the Chinese automaker. When Berkshire started paring its holding last year — BYD shares were trading near their all-time high — the value of its stake had soared roughly 35-fold to around $8 billion.
虽然中国以外的许多购车者仍然对比亚迪一无所知，但沃伦·巴菲特肯定没有。2008年，伯克希尔哈撒韦公司投资约2.3亿美元，收购了这家中国汽车制造商近10%的股份。当伯克希尔去年开始减持时——比亚迪股价接近历史高点——其持股价值飙升了约35倍，达到约80亿美元。
The late Berkshire Vice Chairman Charlie Munger saw BYD primarily as a battery play. On Bloomberg TV in May 2009, he said the company was working on “one of the most important subjects affecting the technological future of man.” Munger’s family had invested in the company years ahead of Berkshire, and he told an interviewer weeks before his death in November that he had tried to dissuade Wang from getting into the car business.
已故的伯克希尔副董事长查理·芒格（Charlie Munger）将比亚迪主要视为电池游戏。2009年5月，他在彭博电视台（Bloomberg TV）上表示，该公司正在研究“影响人类技术未来的最重要主题之一”。芒格的家人比伯克希尔早几年投资了这家公司，他在11月去世前几周告诉采访者，他曾试图劝阻王毅进入汽车行业。
BYD Closes In on Tesla
比亚迪接近特斯拉
Tesla sold only 3,456 more EVs than BYD last quarter
特斯拉上个季度的电动汽车销量仅比比亚迪多3,456辆
Source: Company filings
资料来源：公司文件
BYD acquired a failing state-owned automaker in 2003 and introduced its first plug-in hybrid — called the F3DM — in 2008. A New York Times reviewer panned its exterior design, calling the compact “about as trendy as a Y2K-era Toyota Corolla.” The company sold all of 48 units in the first year.
比亚迪在2003年收购了一家濒临倒闭的国有汽车制造商，并于2008年推出了其首款插电式混合动力车F3DM。《纽约时报》的一位评论家对其外观设计进行了抨击，称这款紧凑型车“与Y2K时代的丰田卡罗拉一样时尚”。该公司在第一年就售出了全部 48 台。
Around that time, China started subsidizing plug-in car purchases. Support from the government extended from cities and provinces to the national level, spanning tax breaks for consumers, production incentives for manufacturers, help with research and development, and cheap land and loans.
大约在那个时候，中国开始补贴购买插电式汽车。政府的支持从城市和省份延伸到国家层面，包括对消费者的税收减免、对制造商的生产激励、研发帮助以及廉价土地和贷款。
A BYD F3DM plug-in hybrid at the 2010 Beijing Auto Show.2010年北京车展上的比亚迪F3DM插电式混合动力车。Photographer: Nelson Ching
As a rare automaker that also made its own batteries, BYD was uniquely positioned to benefit. Before entering the car business, it was the first Chinese lithium-ion supplier to Motorola and Nokia in the early 2000s. To scale up output before consumers were embracing EVs, the company targeted automotive segments that would need lots of cells. Its first electric bus launched soon after the F3DM.
作为一家少有的自己生产电池的汽车制造商，比亚迪具有独特的优势。在进入汽车业务之前，它是 2000 年代初摩托罗拉和诺基亚的第一家中国锂离子供应商。为了在消费者接受电动汽车之前扩大产量，该公司瞄准了需要大量电池的汽车细分市场。它的第一辆电动巴士在F3DM之后不久推出。
“BYD was a miracle,” Munger told the podcast Acquired in an episode that aired in October. He called Wang a genius, saying he kept the company from going broke by working 70-hour weeks, and described him as a fanatical engineer. “The guy at BYD is better at actually making things than Elon is,” he said.
“比亚迪是一个奇迹，”芒格在10月份播出的一集中告诉播客Acquired。他称王是天才，说他每周工作70小时，使公司没有破产，并形容他是一个狂热的工程师。“比亚迪的那个家伙比埃隆更擅长实际制造东西，”他说。
Roughly a decade and a half into making cars, BYD had mustered the smarts to bring plug-in car prices down to levels comparable with combustion engine vehicles. But its lineup still lacked good looks.
在制造汽车大约十五年的时间里，比亚迪已经集思广益，将插电式汽车的价格降低到与内燃机汽车相当的水平。但它的阵容仍然缺乏好看的样子。
In 2016, the company hired Wolfgang Egger as design chief, a role he previously played for Audi and Alfa Romeo. It also lured away other international executives, including Ferrari’s head of exterior design and a top interior designer for Mercedes-Benz.
2016 年，该公司聘请沃尔夫冈·艾格 （Wolfgang Egger） 担任设计总监，他之前曾在奥迪和阿尔法罗密欧担任过这一职务。它还吸引了其他国际高管，包括法拉利的外观设计主管和梅赛德斯-奔驰的顶级内饰设计师。
By the time China invited Tesla to build the country’s first car plant fully owned by a foreign entity, BYD was no longer resigned to making no-frills econoboxes. Now, its most expensive model — the Yangwang U8 sport utility vehicle — costs 1.09 million yuan ($152,600).
当中国邀请特斯拉建造该国第一家由外国实体全资拥有的汽车工厂时，比亚迪不再甘于制造简洁的经济箱。现在，其最昂贵的车型——仰望U8运动型多功能车——售价为109万元人民币（152,600美元）。
A BYD Yangwang U8 electric SUV at the Shanghai Auto Show in April.4月在上海车展上展出的比亚迪阳旺U8电动SUV。Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg摄影师：沈琪来/彭博社
While the level of government subsidies has played a role in China’s tremendous EV growth, Paul Gong, UBS Group AG’s head of China autos research, believes the bigger factor is the level of competition that this support spawned.
虽然政府补贴的水平在中国电动汽车的巨大增长中发挥了作用，但瑞银集团（UBS Group AG）中国汽车研究主管龚保罗（Paul Gong）认为，更大的因素是这种支持所引发的竞争水平。
“They have to work on the innovation, they have to try and find what consumers really want, and they have to optimize their costs to make sure their EVs are competitive in this highly competitive market,” Gong said. After tearing down a BYD Seal sedan and finding a 25% cost advantage over legacy competitors, his team concluded that Chinese manufacturers are likely to own a third of the global car market by the end of the decade.
“他们必须致力于创新，他们必须尝试找到消费者真正想要的东西，他们必须优化成本，以确保他们的电动汽车在这个竞争激烈的市场中具有竞争力，”龚说。在拆解了比亚迪海豹轿车并发现比传统竞争对手高出25%的成本优势后，他的团队得出结论，到本世纪末，中国制造商可能会拥有全球汽车市场的三分之一。
For now, Tesla still has BYD beat on key metrics including revenue, income and market capitalization. Analysts at Bernstein expect some of those gaps to close considerably next year — they’re projecting Tesla will generate $114 billion in sales to BYD’s $112 billion.
目前，特斯拉在收入、收入和市值等关键指标上仍优于比亚迪。伯恩斯坦（Bernstein）的分析师预计，明年将大大缩小其中一些差距——他们预计特斯拉将产生1140亿美元的销售额，而比亚迪的销售额为1120亿美元。
Wang grew up the second youngest of eight children in the impoverished village of Wuwei in eastern China’s Anhui province. His parents died when he was a teenager, and his older siblings supported him through his high school and university education.
王在中国东部安徽省的贫困村武威村长大，是八个孩子中排行老二。他的父母在他十几岁时就去世了，他的哥哥姐姐支持他完成高中和大学教育。
Through the early years of his working life, Wang was based in Beijing, working as a mid-level government researcher on rare-earth metals critical to batteries and consumer electronics. He founded BYD in 1995 in Shenzhen with the help of an almost $300,000 loan from a friend. He’s now worth $14.8 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
在他工作生涯的早期，王先生常驻北京，担任政府中层研究员，研究对电池和消费电子产品至关重要的稀土金属。他于1995年在深圳创立了比亚迪，当时他从朋友那里借了近30万美元。根据彭博亿万富翁指数，他现在的身价为 148 亿美元。
BYD Reaches Beyond Its APAC Stronghold
比亚迪超越其亚太大本营
Passenger vehicle sales for Jan.-Sept. 2023
1-9月乘用车销量2023
Sources: BYD (markets announced as of October), BloombergNEF (units sold in announced markets)
资料：比亚迪（截至10月公布的市场）、彭博新能源财经（公布市场的销量）
Note: Mapped data show sales for distinct economies.
注：映射数据显示了不同经济体的销售额。
Wang has racked up the air miles in 2023, crisscrossing the globe between auto shows, new market launches and meetings with heads of states. He’s touched down in countries including Japan, Germany, Vietnam, Brazil, Mexico and Chile — a travel schedule befitting the leader of a company that’s set up shop in some 60 countries and territories in just the last two years.
2023年，王毅在车展、新市场发布会和与国家元首会晤之间穿梭于全球各地。他曾在日本、德国、越南、巴西、墨西哥和智利等国家落地——这个旅行时间表与一家在过去两年内在大约60个国家和地区开设商店的公司的领导者相称。
Analysts expect BYD to launch its third-generation EVs next year offering more technology, such as automated-driving capabilities. That’s one area where BYD falls short with its more affordable products versus upstarts like Nio Inc. and Xpeng Inc. Even as the number of auto rivals in China has shrunk from over 500 to around 100, new entrants continue to emerge, including well-funded tech giant Huawei Technologies Co.
分析师预计，比亚迪明年将推出第三代电动汽车，提供更多技术，例如自动驾驶功能。这是比亚迪在蔚来汽车和小鹏汽车等新兴产品中更实惠的产品不足的一个领域。尽管中国的汽车竞争对手数量已从500多家减少到100家左右，但新进入者仍在不断涌现，包括资金雄厚的科技巨头华为技术有限公司。
BYD Climbs the Global Auto-Sales Ranks
比亚迪在全球汽车销量排名中攀升
China’s top carmaker cracks the top 10
中国顶级汽车制造商进入前10名
Source: GlobalData
来源：GlobalData
Note: Figures include forecasts for December.
注：数据包括12月的预测。
When Bloomberg News asked Wang in March whether BYD had aspirations to be as big as Toyota, which in 2023 will be the world’s top-selling overall carmaker for a fourth straight year, he said the development of the EV industry will lead to an industry reshuffle.
今年3月，当彭博新闻社（Bloomberg News）问比亚迪是否有志成为像丰田一样大的车型时，丰田将在2023年连续第四年成为全球销量最高的汽车制造商，他表示，电动汽车行业的发展将导致行业洗牌。
“How a car company performs will depend on its tech and response,” he said. “BYD in China’s electrification is the winner for now, but how it will go tomorrow, we can’t say for sure. But we will lean into our advantages and keep making good products.”
“一家汽车公司的表现将取决于其技术和反应，”他说。“比亚迪在中国的电气化目前是赢家，但明天会如何发展，我们不能确定。但我们会利用我们的优势，继续做出好的产品。
BYD’s now-open showroom in the Mayfair district of London in September.比亚迪于9月在伦敦梅菲尔区开业的展厅。Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg摄影师：Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg
But staying at the top will require a different mindset than getting there, said HSBC Qianhai Securities Ltd. head of China autos Yuqian Ding.
但要想保持领先地位，需要一种与达到顶峰不同的心态，汇丰前海证券有限公司中国汽车业务负责人丁宇谦表示。
“When you become the No. 1, the mandate suddenly changes,” she said. “You’re going to redefine yourself — you’re going to have to find a way to beat yourself.”
“当你成为第一名时，任务会突然改变，”她说。“你要重新定义自己——你必须找到一种方法来打败自己。
