Chinese battery-electric vehicle brand BYD says it will team up with Tesla to drive internal-combustion-engine vehicle makers out of the European market.
In an interview with the U.K.’s Financial Times, BYD’s executive vice president, Stella Li, says ICE cars are “our common enemy.”
The move makes sense considering Tesla’s embedded presence in China and its extensive use of domestic made parts especially in the highest-value item, its vehicles’ battery packs, which the Nikkei newspaper estimates use 39% Chinese components.
While the pair may find common ground in promoting BEVs at the expense of ICE and hybrid rivals, they are still locked in their own commercial battle to grab the world’s biggest manufacturer of BEVs.
BYD is expanding its operations in Europe and now, according to Li’s interview with German newspaper Automobilwoche, is considering building a third plant in Europe and will decide within the next 18 months whether to give it the go-ahead.
The company is already building one site in Hungary and another in Turkey which together will have the capacity to produce 500,000 cars a year.
BYD is aiming for rapid sales growth of its BEVs in Europe claiming it can offer more model options than Tesla. At the same time, the U.S. automaker is suffering a slump in sales on the continent in a consumer backlash against CEO Elon Musk’s increasing right-wing political activism.
Speaking at a BYD showroom in London, Li tells the FT that China is willing to share key technologies in BEV powertrains and autonomous driving with foreign companies despite rising trade tensions with Brussels and Washington.
She says: “Our common enemy is the internal-combustion-engine car. We need to work together . . . to make the industry change.
“(The) Chinese government is more open so maybe there is a lot of wrong perception here.”
Li adds that the Chinese car market is “the homeland for innovation” and urges foreign companies to come to China. “The government will support you and they’ll work with you to allow any technology to be realized.”
That said, she says the automaker recognizes the consumer slowdown in demand for BEVs and will react to this in the short term by bringing other powertrain options, such as the Seal U plug-in hybrid, to European markets. BYD also plans to launch its Denza premium brand later this year.
