BYD Chairman Wang Chuanfu said on Tuesday that he expects the Chinese electric vehicle maker to become the world’s largest automaker within five years, making the statement at the company’s annual shareholder meeting in Shenzhen as he sought to reassure investors following a steep drop in the firm’s market value.
The comments come as BYD faces mounting pressure from slowing domestic sales and intensifying competition within China’s automotive sector. The company ranked sixth globally in 2025 with 4.6 million vehicles sold but has struggled to sustain growth momentum over the past year. Its Hong Kong-listed shares have fallen more than 45% from their peak over the past year, while its Shenzhen-listed stock has dropped 33% over the same period.
Wang addressed nearly 1,000 shareholders at the meeting, emphasizing production expansion and technological development as central to the company’s strategy. According to the state-owned Shanghai Securities News, a report confirmed by an attendee, Wang highlighted the ramp-up of the company’s second-generation Blade Battery as a key operational priority and described it as a current bottleneck affecting growth capacity.
“BYD will truly become the No. 1 automaker globally in terms of scale in five years,” Wang said, pointing to the company’s expanding export footprint and advances in battery and fast-charging technologies as core drivers of future growth both domestically and internationally.
The company later confirmed that Wang had expressed the ambition to become the world’s largest automaker but did not provide additional details on other remarks made during the meeting when contacted by Reuters.
To achieve the target, BYD would need to surpass Toyota Motor, which sold more than twice as many vehicles as BYD in 2025. The global competitive landscape has been shifting, with Toyota seeing erosion in some overseas markets such as Southeast Asia and the Middle East, where Chinese manufacturers have expanded their presence.
Despite challenges in its home market, BYD has reported strong export growth. Shipments between January and May rose 65% compared with a year earlier, with Brazil, Britain and Australia emerging as key destinations. The expansion has been supported by relatively low trade barriers in those regions and growing demand for electric vehicles.
However, the export gains have not offset weakening domestic performance. Overall deliveries for the same period declined by more than 20%, reflecting intensified price competition and softer demand conditions in China’s auto market.
Market reaction remained cautious following the shareholder meeting. BYD shares declined 4.3% in Hong Kong and 1.6% in Shenzhen in Wednesday morning trading, extending broader investor concerns about profitability pressures and the sustainability of growth in the domestic sector.
The company’s focus on battery technology, production scaling, and international expansion reflects its strategy to navigate a highly competitive global automotive market, even as near-term financial performance remains under pressure.
