The president-in-chief decodes BYD: A perspective on the development path of car companies in the new energy era

Reporters Gao Peitong, Duan Chuting, And Zhao Yi reported in Shenzhen

With the promotion of the domestic "double carbon" goal, the traditional automobile industry, as one of the main sources of carbon emissions, shoulders major social responsibilities. Among the many domestic car companies, BYD Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "BYD", 002594.SZ) launched new energy vehicles, cloud rail and cloud bus, photovoltaic, energy storage and other new energy overall solutions, especially in the field of new energy vehicles, after long-term layout, is ushering in the harvest period, sales are rising rapidly, contributing to the achievement of the double carbon goal.

Through BYD's development, the question worth further exploring is: under the "double carbon" goal, what opportunities and challenges will car companies usher in? How to grasp the market trend of new energy vehicles? How to explore the industrial innovation development model in the new round of great changes? How to achieve high-quality development of the entire industrial chain?

On December 11, the forum "Moving Toward the New and Creating the Future - Dialogue with editor-in-chief into BYD" sponsored by China Business Daily and BYD Co., Ltd. was held at BYD's headquarters in Shenzhen. The guests discussed in depth the topics of "New Pattern, New Opportunity - Talking about the Road to High-quality Development of the Automobile Industry" and "New Technology, New Challenges - On the Innovation Strategy of Enterprises under the Dual Carbon Target", and the atmosphere was warm and full of dry goods.

The forum gathered Wang Chuanfu, chairman and president of BYD, Liu Yadong, former editor-in-chief of Science and Technology Daily and dean of the School of Journalism and Communication of Nankai University, Liu Jian, president and editor-in-chief of The Economic Observer, Sun Bo, secretary of the party committee and chairman of Times Media Group, Liu Chun, senior vice president of Phoenix New Media, Shui Pi, well-known financial commentator and CEO of Huaxia Media, Li Shuke, president and editor-in-chief of China National Geographic Magazine, He Li, deputy secretary of the party committee and co-founder of Interface Finance Associated Press, chairman of Boya Tianxia Media. Publisher Rong Bo, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of NetEase Media Yao Changsheng, Director of the World Issues Research Center of Xinhua News Agency Think Tank and Senior Editor Xia Lin and other guests attended the meeting.

On December 11, the forum "Moving Toward the New and Creating the Future - Dialogue with editor-in-chief into BYD" sponsored by China Business Daily and BYD Co., Ltd. was held at BYD's headquarters in Shenzhen.

Car companies meet the "three elements" of change

As the leader of domestic new energy vehicles, BYD's eye-catching achievements in core technologies such as power batteries, super hybrids, and IGBTs have always attracted market attention.

Before the start of the forum, the participants visited the BYD Technology Museum together, learned about BYD's layout in the four major businesses of automobile, rail transit, new energy and electronics, and took a test ride on BYD Yunba to watch the power battery acupuncture test. At the forum in the afternoon, Wang Chuanfu had an in-depth discussion with a number of presidents, editors-in-chief and media experts on the topics of the forum.

"Some of the achievements made this year stem from BYD's adherence to technological innovation, its adherence to the new energy strategy, and the superposition of BYD's rapid decision-making mechanism, which has created a very hot situation for BYD orders today." Wang Chuanfu said at the forum site.

From the perspective of sales performance, in the first 11 months of this year, BYD's sales of new energy vehicles reached 509,800 units, an increase of 216.97% year-on-year. Taking BYD as an example, how can car companies stand out in the era of great changes in the automotive industry?

Wang Chuanfu believes that one is inseparable from the advanced layout and continuous deep ploughing in the core technology field, and the important reason for consumers to choose products is to be attracted by their core technologies; the second is the precise development strategy, there are many new energy vehicle technology development directions, and once the direction is selected, the cost is huge; the third is that in the era of technological change, it is very important to compress the decision-making time and promote the rapid iteration of technology, at this time, car companies need to create advantages with the help of rapid decision-making mechanisms.

Sun Bo said that BYD is a rigorous and pragmatic technology-based enterprise. From the perspective of policy, market and capital, BYD's successful development coincides with a better historical node, and it is also due to the accumulation of the automotive industry in the past 20 years. In Sun Bo's view, if an excellent enterprise wants to achieve rapid development, it should have a higher and farther vision and strive for it.

Yao Changsheng was deeply impressed by BYD's outbreak in the past three years, and he said more bluntly: "In recent years, the face of the automotive industry is completely different from before, and the industry logic has also been subverted." ”

Rongbo believes that after the carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals were proposed, China's auto industry has undergone earth-shaking changes. At present, new energy vehicles are developing rapidly, and the core "black technology" of new energy vehicles lies in batteries. In addition to the development and innovation of battery technology, the breakthrough of energy storage technology also plays an important role in the realization of the "double carbon goal".

The rise of independent brands has accelerated

It is worth noting that at the forum site, the guests repeatedly talked about the new energy wave, independent car brand is ushering in the key moment of lane change overtaking.

According to the data of the Association of Passenger Vehicles, from January to November 2021, domestic sales of new energy passenger vehicles were 2.807 million units, an increase of 190.2% year-on-year. In November this year, the penetration rate of new energy vehicles in China exceeded 20%, and independent brands are obviously much faster than joint venture brands in promoting new energy. From the data point of view, in November 2021, the penetration rate of new energy vehicles in independent brands was 33.2%, while the penetration rate of new energy vehicles in mainstream joint venture brands was only 3.9%.

Taking BYD as an example, with the help of previous advance prediction and continuous deep ploughing in the core technology field, when new energy vehicles usher in the inflection point of rapid development, their sales will start to grow rapidly and usher in a harvest period.

Comparing the difference between independent brands and multinational car companies, Shuipi Analysis pointed out: "The most important reason why Chinese independent brands can achieve lane change and overtake in the field of new energy and surpass tradition in industrial upgrading lies in the entrepreneurial spirit of Chinese enterprises." The biggest difference between entrepreneurs and professional managers is that entrepreneurs have a sense of responsibility, innovation and risk-taking. ”

In addition to the entrepreneurial spirit possessed by independent brands, Xia Lin also mentioned that by observing the development and transformation of independent brands including BYD over the years, he deeply felt that the good development of an enterprise also needed support from all levels of government.

"A company with core technology will develop rapidly, but there is also more room for improvement." Liu Chun believes that from fuel vehicles to electric vehicles, in the face of great changes in the industry, BYD has accurately stepped into every potential outlet. In the new car-making force track, BYD masters the core technology, breaks through the shortcomings of domestic enterprises in the field of science and technology, and is an enterprise full of innovative spirit and entrepreneurial spirit.

In the face of the impact of electrification and intelligence on the automotive industry, the participants also mentioned the new challenges posed by new technologies and new trends to car companies. At the same time, how to meet the increasingly young consumer group is also a test problem faced by car companies.

"In the international automotive market, Chinese companies are already the most important competitors." On this basis, Liu Jian pointed out that looking to the future, the function of the car may exceed the nature of the travel tool, the car company is not only the formulator of the travel plan, how to determine the direction of the independent brand will be an important issue.

From the enterprise level to the technical level, He Li, deputy secretary of the party committee and co-founder of the Interface Finance Association, mentioned the revolutionary changes in power batteries. In He Li's view, there are still more unknowns about the performance of future power batteries in charging and other aspects. In addition, there is also a lot of room for development in the cooperative development alliance of hybrid technology.

"The progress of technology stems from the qualitative leap that has taken place in the continuous improvement of enterprises, and BYD has made a deep connection between Chinese manufacturing and automobiles." Li Shuke said that the sign of the maturity of an automobile company lies in the stability of the technical level. Stability means the maturity of the brand, which means that the input and output of resources reach the most reasonable allocation.

For enterprises, the development of new technologies is closely related to the needs of new consumer groups. Liu Yadong believes that with the steady improvement of domestic consumption level, China's automobile consumption market has shown a new trend, and automobiles have become the carrier of consumer personality characteristics display, which has been given more spiritual connotations. In Liu Yadong's view, as the "post-90s" gradually become the main force of the automobile consumer market, they will put forward more personalized needs for the future automobile market.

(Editor: Zhao Yi Proofreader: Yan Jingning)