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

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.

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.