While recently speaking at an event to celebrate the automaker’s latest production milestones, BYD founder and chairman Wang Chuanfu presented a video detailing the formation of 12 major Chinese car manufacturers, including the likes of FAW Group, Xpeng, Nio, and Li Auto. In the video, the narrator said “Our stories are different from each other but share the same direction. There is no distinction between ‘you’ and ‘me.’” It ended by calling for Chinese car manufacturers to “demolish the old legends and achieve new world-class brands.”
“I believe the time has come for Chinese brands,” Wang Chuanfu said. “It’s an emotional need for the 1.4 billion Chinese people to see a Chinese brand becoming global.”
Reuters notes that a number of BYD’s rivals responded positively to the video. Writing on Weibo, Nio chief executive William Li said “I feel proud for China’s auto industry! We should learn from BYD’s success.”
The chief executive of Li Auto, Li Xiang, echoed these sentiments, writing “Salute to BYD! Let’s give a thumbs up to every participant in the new energy era!”
However, the chief executive of Great Wall Motor, Wang Yuanli, didn’t respond so positively to the call from BYD, sharing a snippet to Weibo written by an editor from China’s Auto Business Review.
“At such a critical moment, how can Chinese automakers be together,” he wrote. “If we only talk about being together but keep our bitterness in our hearts, it would be better to have the fight first.”
