China’s BYD fires up its car offerings to compete with Tesla and Jeep at the same time

SHENZHEN
–
Chinese
electric
car
company


BYD
is
rapidly
expanding
its
lineup
to
include
vehicles
that
compete
with
traditional
automakers
in
the

mass
market,


Tesla
on
the
premium
end
and
Jeep
in
the
off-road
segment.

BYD
on
Tuesday
unveiled
three
new
cars
for
its
Fang
Cheng
Bao
brand:
an
off-road
“Leopard
8”
SUV,
a
“Super
3”
SUV
geared
toward
city
driving
and
a
“Super
9”
sports
car.

The
company
did
not
announce
prices.
Instead,
BYD
billed
the
vehicles
mostly
as
concept
cars
and
hinted
further
details
would
be
released
at
the
auto
show
in
Beijing
next
week.
It
was
not
immediately
clear
to
what
extent
the
new
cars
would
be
fully
electric.

BYD
launched
its
Fang
Cheng
Bao
brand
last
summer
with
a
focus
on
“personalized
needs
of
consumers,”
particularly
in
off-road
vehicles
and
sports
cars.
The
brand’s
first
vehicle,
a
hybrid-powered
off-road
SUV
called
“Leopard
5,”
launched
in
November
with
a
starting
price
of
about
290,000
yuan
($40,845).

Nearly
20,000
Leopard
5
cars
have
since
been
delivered,
the
company
claimed
Tuesday.

BYD
also
sells
an
off-road
SUV
and
sports
car
under
its
luxury
brand
Yangwang,
which
launched
early
last
year
to
target
consumers
willing
to
spend
about
1
million
yuan
or
more
per
car.

Most
of
BYD’s
cars
are
in
the
mass
market
segment
and
rank
among
the
best-selling
new
energy
vehicles
in
China.
The
category
includes
battery-only
and
hybrid-powered
cars.

“In
the
past
20
years,
our
continuous
technological
innovation
and
disruption
have
set
multiple
benchmarks
for
the
industry,”
Lian
Yubo,
chief
scientist
at
BYD,
said
in
Mandarin
during
Tuesday’s
launch
event,
according
to
a
CNBC
translation.

“The
blade
battery
defines
the
benchmark
for
safety.
DM-i
set
the
benchmark
for
energy
consumption,

DiSus
set
the
benchmark
for
total
vehicle
control,”
Lian
said,
referring
to
various
technological
systems
BYD
has
released
in
the
last
few
years.

For
off-road
vehicles,
Lian
touted
BYD
technology
that
allows
the
cars
to
run
on
hybrid
power.

BYD’s
car
launches
come
amid
fierce
competition
in
China’s
new
energy
vehicle
market.
Chinese
smartphone
maker


Xiaomi
last
month
released
its

first
electric
car,
aimed
directly
at
Tesla’s
Model
3.

Chinese
automakers
including
BYD
also
have
their

sights
on
the
global
market.
This
month,
BYD
announced
plans
to

launch
an
electric
pickup
truck
overseas
this
year.