As the leading new energy vehicle leader in China, BYD has always been quite influential in the industry. In addition to achieving great results in the domestic market in recent years, it has also achieved gratifying results in the expansion of overseas markets. Its new energy commercial vehicles have been sold in more than 300 countries and regions around the world. On February 6, BYD and Didi joined hands to officially enter the Mexican market, opening a new chapter for BYD's overseas market development of passenger cars.
The online ride-hailing market and sales have both increased
As early as April 2018, Didi had entered the Mexican market. It also provides ride, taxi and food delivery services in 32 cities. BYD's entry into the Mexican market this time will be achieved by adding new energy models to Didi.
Since the country fully refunded subsidies, the domestic new energy market has also experienced shrinkage, with sales showing a downward trend for six consecutive months. Although BYD is a veteran car-making force with mature system planning, it has also been affected by the general environment. In 2019, BYD's annual sales were 451,246 vehicles, a year-on-year decrease of 13%.
In 2020, the passenger car market will continue to be severe, and finding new growth points is extremely important for BYD. This entry into the Mexican market in the form of online ride-hailing is also a continuation of the current growth pattern of my country's new energy passenger vehicle market, selling vehicles to the B-end market to achieve sales growth. However, although BYD played the old tricks this time, it gained not only sales but also the online car-hailing market. After all, BYD and Didi have a cooperative relationship.
As early as 2015, BYD and Didi established a cooperative relationship and established Shenzhen Didi New Energy Car Rental Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Shenzhen Didi"), in which BYD holds 40% of the shares. Didi holds 60% stake. Its business includes new energy electric taxi enterprise investment, automobile sales and related after-sales services, automobile parts sales, car rental and operation, urban taxi operation, etc. During the cooperation between the two, many activities were carried out in many provinces and cities in China, which further consolidated the cooperative relationship between the two.
In addition, the two have joined forces to further expand the online ride-hailing market. In July last year, Shenzhen Didi invested another 100 shares in Nanjing Jiangnan Pure Electric Taxi Co., Ltd. The company's business scope includes pure electric vehicle rental and related services, passenger rental transportation, new energy vehicle charging equipment maintenance, etc. This operation, from BYD's perspective, further expanded BYD's influence in the online ride-hailing market.
Although the quantity launched this time is not large, such a new attempt may provide new ideas for BYD's overseas market development.
BYD's ambitions go far beyond sales and market
As a car company, in addition to its competitive model products, BYD has also made considerable achievements in power batteries.
As a stickler for the lithium iron phosphate battery line, the new generation of blade batteries has made another breakthrough in battery technology. The volume specific energy density of the new battery can be increased by about 50%. As we all know, due to the low energy density of lithium iron phosphate batteries, their battery life is slightly lower than that of ternary lithium batteries. According to BYD’s official news, the battery life of the blade can reach 600KM. The emergence of blade batteries may change the status quo of the battery industry.
In addition to daring to set up its own banner in the industry, BYD is also ambitious in terms of industry influence. In November last year, BYD reached an agreement with Toyota to establish a joint venture to develop a pure electric vehicle research and development company. The new company will achieve a strong alliance between BYD's competitiveness and R&D capabilities in the pure electric vehicle market and Toyota's quality and safety. This alliance will undoubtedly strengthen BYD's position.
In addition to cooperating with many car company partners, BYD's name is also on the cooperation list of giant companies in the Internet industry and manufacturing industry. For example, BYD once OEMed the iPad, Xiaomi 10, etc. BYD can handle seemingly unrelated industries with ease. Although this seems to have nothing to do with building cars, it also proves from the side that BYD is also a good player in some aspects in addition to building cars.
A soldier who doesn't want to be a general is not a good tailor! From some perspectives, this sentence is very appropriate to describe BYD.
In the field of technology, BYD is also working very hard. With many patents, e-platform, DiLink system, etc. are also attracting much attention in the industry. BYD has used technology to prove its strength not once or twice.
2020 has arrived, and so has BYD’s new challenge. Can the ambitious BYD further expand its influence? Can it meet the new and more severe domestic challenges and achieve growth against the trend? Can passenger cars continue the glory of commercial vehicles in overseas markets? Let BYD answer these questions by itself!
This article comes from the author of Autohome Chejiahao and does not represent the views and positions of Autohome.