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The first manufacturer of Chinese electric vehicles Byd is committed to working with a Tesla rival to fight against gas cars, while insisting that Beijing was “more open” to foreign affairs than the West.
“Our common enemy is the internal combustion engine car. We have to work together. . . To change the industry, ”said BYD executive vice-president Stella Li in an interview with the Financial Times.
Despite its comments, the two car manufacturers compete for the largest group of electric vehicles in the world. Byd aims rapid sales growth Advanced electric vehicles in Europe with more product offers than the American company. Tesla, in turn, has dropped for European sales on the back of Elon Musk’s growing political activism.
Talk to a Byd Showroom in London, Li said that China was ready to share key technologies in electric vehicles and autonomous driving with foreign companies despite increasing trade tensions with Brussels and Washington.
“”[The] The Chinese government is more open, so maybe there is a lot of bad perception here, “she said.
She added that the Chinese automotive market was “the homeland for innovation” and urged foreign companies to come to China. “The government will support you and they will work with you to allow any technology to be done,” she said.
Byd last month revealed that the smart driving functions advanced through its “God’s eye” autonomous driving system would become available for customers in most of its models at no additional cost.
The announcement has aroused concerns across the income industry lower than these driving aid technologies, analysts predicting that the entire market will be forced to follow the popularization of intelligent driving functions.
The group supported by Warren Buffett also made aggressive breakthroughs on European markets with local production plans via its factories in Hungary and Turkey to combat higher EU prices against EV imports made in China. Byd also collected $ 5.6 billion thanks to a sale of shares in Hong Kong to help expand abroad, according to a file file.
But Brussels also wants Chinese companies transfer intellectual property European companies in exchange for EU grants. Meanwhile, Beijing, responding to the increase in Western protectionism, said that it wanted Chinese companies to limit advanced manufacturing abroad.
In recent years, China has also gradually extended export controls from borders on battery materials such as rare earths to technology and processes that transform rare refined land into permanent metals and magnets used in electric vehicles.
Asked about recent political developments in the EU on technology sharing, Li said that it had not paid attention to politics because it was “in the short term” and that consumers chose the best product.
The Chinese government helped its push abroad, and all its innovation would be introduced in its global markets, including its autonomous technology, she said. “For each investment that we have abroad, the [Chinese] The government supports [us] a lot.”
Li has said that Byd will bring options other than electric vehicles to European consumers – such as seal rechargeable hybrids – following the drop in sales of electric vehicles on the main European markets and with hybrids not subject to anti -Subs of the EU. He also plans to launch his brand Denza Premium later this year.
The market share of electric cars in byd in Western Europe, including the United Kingdom, was 2% last year, according to Schmidt Automotive Research.
Li confirmed that Byd did not intend to introduce electric vehicles in the United States, which sliced a price of 100% last year on imports of Chinese electric vehicles. On Thursday, US President Donald Trump announced additional prices on imports from China and confirmed his intention to advance samples from Mexico and Canada from next week. Li said that no decision had been made on Byd’s plans to build a factory in Mexico.
She said that she was not concerned about a global slowdown in the EV transition due to Trump’s policies. Referring to the exchange of petrol vehicles in China, she said: “Why do people still choose EV? Because it’s a better car, a smarter car. . . And it is a superior quality.
Additional reports by Cheng Leng in Hong Kong
