Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
This is a story about changes that are too big to ignore. For many years, the global car market has been dominated by the same small group. Countries like Japan, Germany and the United States, but no longer. In the span of five years, China leapfrogged the largest automakers in the world, going from sixth place to first. It now exports more vehicles than the United States and Japan combined. And no company tells that story better than the electric carmaker BYD. Bloomberg's Tom Mackenzie reports from Paris.
At an opera house just north of the shows Elisee, a lavish debut even for Paris. The star of the show, not a performer, but a product. This car is the latest creation of BYD, a Shenzhen based electric vehicle maker that's taking the world by storm. Today, it's China's biggest car company
by sales.
“I want to be the best valuable brand in the auto industry”.
But it wasn't so long ago that otherautomakers literally laughed them off. This was Tesla's Elon Musk here onBloomberg back in 2011.
“There's competitors now ramping up. And as you're familiar with BYD, which is also on the West Coast, I think they are ramping up production of their electric vehicles. Warren Buffett owns 10% stake in that. Why do you laugh? Here is trying to compete. Why do you laugh?
Have you seen their car? You don't see them at all as a competitor? No”
Since then, a lot has changed. BYD now has almost a million employees. It says it files an average of 52 patents per working day. And in 2025, for the first time, BYD beat Tesla in total car sales, claiming the title of top electric vehicle maker in the world.
“How would you characterize BYD's growth in recent years? Yeah, explosive.”
Ryan Fisher is the electric vehicle and charging analyst at BloombergNEF.
“They in 2021 go from like barely on the map if you know I mean if you look at the chart to having 4 million plus sales and being in the top ten automakers in the world”.
Just how seriously BYD and the Chinese auto sector broadly are being taken now. Just listen to Ford CEO Jim Farley speaking last year.
“It's the most humbling thing I've ever seen. Their cost, their quality of their vehicles is far superior to what I see in the West.”
We wanted to get a firsthand look at the battle for the future of auto making. So we went to Paris to see the roll out of BYD's new car, that we spoke with the woman on the front lines of the firm's
global expansion.
“Why Paris? Yeah, very good question. Paris is the country, is a city full of energy, and also art.
Stella Lee has led BYD's charge into markets beyond China, including here in France as the
company's number two. After its founder, Lee also helped engineer its transformation from a battery startup into an auto manufacturing powerhouse.
“What do you think the biggest structural advantage is the BYD has over its competitors?
Two things. One is of technology. To today like we it we have 120,000 on the engineer. We invent 52 patent per day. The second is BYD has very strong vertical integration capability. What does this mean? This means like it. We can do innovation much faster or can do cool stuff much more than any other people. That's the reason you saw BYD in the past two years.
We have like you have this sporty car called the Yangwang U9. You have 3.000 horsepower. They saw this car in the tarmac.”
Sadly, BYD didn't let us race their hyper car to the Arc de Triomple, but we did drive their latest luxury EV the Denza Z9 GT.
“Who do you see as your main competitor? Who is the brand that you're really competing with in this premium segment now?
On the all the cool technology in this car. I did not see any competition here.”
Given the company's origins, it's no surprise that the car maker's key feature might be its battery. The range is long and the charge is fast, far faster than anything else on the market if done through their planned system of flash charges.
What's more, the new car has the profile of a Porsche and the horsepower of a Bugatti, or that the price of a Subaru Ooutback, but only in China. Here in France, it runs about €115,000
or $135,000.
“About a million units sold last year overseas or international sales. One and a half million is the number I've seen for 2026. Yes. Are you on track to meet that? To beat that? Easily?
Easily beating one and a half million? This year. Easily.
This is a story about changes that are too big to ignore. For many years, the global car market has been dominated by the same small group. Countries like Japan, Germany and the United States, but no longer. In the span of five years, China leapfrogged the largest automakers in the world, going from sixth place to first. It now exports more vehicles than the United States and Japan combined. And no company tells that story better than the electric carmaker BYD. Bloomberg's Tom Mackenzie reports from Paris.
At an opera house just north of the shows Elisee, a lavish debut even for Paris. The star of the show, not a performer, but a product. This car is the latest creation of BYD, a Shenzhen based electric vehicle maker that's taking the world by storm. Today, it's China's biggest car company
by sales.
“I want to be the best valuable brand in the auto industry”.
But it wasn't so long ago that otherautomakers literally laughed them off. This was Tesla's Elon Musk here onBloomberg back in 2011.
“There's competitors now ramping up. And as you're familiar with BYD, which is also on the West Coast, I think they are ramping up production of their electric vehicles. Warren Buffett owns 10% stake in that. Why do you laugh? Here is trying to compete. Why do you laugh?
Have you seen their car? You don't see them at all as a competitor? No”
Since then, a lot has changed. BYD now has almost a million employees. It says it files an average of 52 patents per working day. And in 2025, for the first time, BYD beat Tesla in total car sales, claiming the title of top electric vehicle maker in the world.
“How would you characterize BYD's growth in recent years? Yeah, explosive.”
Ryan Fisher is the electric vehicle and charging analyst at BloombergNEF.
“They in 2021 go from like barely on the map if you know I mean if you look at the chart to having 4 million plus sales and being in the top ten automakers in the world”.
Just how seriously BYD and the Chinese auto sector broadly are being taken now. Just listen to Ford CEO Jim Farley speaking last year.
“It's the most humbling thing I've ever seen. Their cost, their quality of their vehicles is far superior to what I see in the West.”
We wanted to get a firsthand look at the battle for the future of auto making. So we went to Paris to see the roll out of BYD's new car, that we spoke with the woman on the front lines of the firm's
global expansion.
“Why Paris? Yeah, very good question. Paris is the country, is a city full of energy, and also art.
Stella Lee has led BYD's charge into markets beyond China, including here in France as the
company's number two. After its founder, Lee also helped engineer its transformation from a battery startup into an auto manufacturing powerhouse.
“What do you think the biggest structural advantage is the BYD has over its competitors?
Two things. One is of technology. To today like we it we have 120,000 on the engineer. We invent 52 patent per day. The second is BYD has very strong vertical integration capability. What does this mean? This means like it. We can do innovation much faster or can do cool stuff much more than any other people. That's the reason you saw BYD in the past two years.
We have like you have this sporty car called the Yangwang U9. You have 3.000 horsepower. They saw this car in the tarmac.”
Sadly, BYD didn't let us race their hyper car to the Arc de Triomple, but we did drive their latest luxury EV the Denza Z9 GT.
“Who do you see as your main competitor? Who is the brand that you're really competing with in this premium segment now?
On the all the cool technology in this car. I did not see any competition here.”
Given the company's origins, it's no surprise that the car maker's key feature might be its battery. The range is long and the charge is fast, far faster than anything else on the market if done through their planned system of flash charges.
What's more, the new car has the profile of a Porsche and the horsepower of a Bugatti, or that the price of a Subaru Ooutback, but only in China. Here in France, it runs about €115,000
or $135,000.
“About a million units sold last year overseas or international sales. One and a half million is the number I've seen for 2026. Yes. Are you on track to meet that? To beat that? Easily?
Easily beating one and a half million? This year. Easily.
