From phone batteries to the world's biggest EV seller
BYD Company Ltd was founded in Shenzhen in 1995 by battery chemist Wang Chuanfu and his cousin Lu Xiangyang. It made rechargeable phone batteries, undercutting Japanese makers by replacing expensive automated lines with manual production, and became a supplier to Motorola and Nokia. BYD listed in Hong Kong in 2002 and in 2003 bought Xi'an Qinchuan Automobile to enter the car business, a move many investors opposed.
Its early cars were basic, but BYD kept building its own batteries and parts. It launched the F3DM, the first mass-produced plug-in hybrid, in 2008, the same year Berkshire Hathaway bought about 10% of the company for $232 million. The Blade Battery followed in 2020 and DM-i hybrids in 2021. In March 2022 BYD stopped making combustion-only cars. In 2025 it sold 4.6 million new energy vehicles, including 2.26 million battery EVs, more than Tesla's 1.64 million. Berkshire sold the last of its shares in 2025.
How BYD makes money
BYD reported FY2025 revenue of CN¥803.96 billion (about $111 billion). Cars and related products, including the BYD, Denza, Fangchengbao and Yangwang brands, buses, batteries and energy storage, produced ~$90.2 billion (CN¥648.6 billion), about 81%. BYD Electronic's phone and device manufacturing produced ~$21.6 billion (CN¥155.2 billion), about 19%. Because BYD makes its own battery cells, motors, electronic controls and power chips, it keeps margins that most carmakers pay to suppliers, which lets it cut prices and stay profitable.
2025 and 2026: profit under pressure, exports take over
Net profit attributable to shareholders fell 19% to ~$4.53 billion (CN¥32.62 billion) in 2025, BYD's first annual decline in four years, as China's price war hit margins. In the first half of 2026, revenue fell 7.1% to ~$47.9 billion (CN¥344.8 billion) and profit fell 20.5% to ~$1.71 billion (CN¥12.3 billion). Sales in China dropped 32.7% in January-August 2026, but overseas sales rose 86% to 1.16 million vehicles, and overseas revenue (~$25.2 billion (CN¥181.3 billion)) passed revenue from China for the first time. Second-quarter profit rose year on year for the first time in five quarters.
Spending has run ahead of cash. In 2025 BYD spent about $21.8 billion (CN¥156.8 billion) on plants, ships and charging against ~$8.21 billion (CN¥59.1 billion) of operating cash flow, according to StockAnalysis figures compiled from filings.
Technology and competition
On March 5, 2026 BYD unveiled the second-generation Blade Battery, which charges from 10% to 70% in about five minutes on its FLASH chargers, and plans 20,000 such stations in China by the end of 2026. In China it competes with Geely, Chery, Leapmotor, Xiaomi, XPeng, NIO, Huawei-backed brands and Tesla; abroad, with Tesla, Toyota, Volkswagen and Hyundai. In batteries and energy storage its main rival is CATL.
Risks and outlook
The EU charges a 17.0% countervailing duty on China-built BYD EVs on top of its 10% standard duty, and the US tariff on Chinese EVs is 100%. BYD's answer is local production: plants in Thailand, Uzbekistan and Brazil are running, the Szeged plant in Hungary is due to start series production in the fourth quarter of 2026, and a Turkish plant was put on hold in June 2026. BYD has raised its 2026 overseas target to about 2 million vehicles and aims for 2.5 million in 2027. Founder Wang Chuanfu was confirmed as chairman for another three-year term on September 29, 2026.
