October 12, 2026 – Stella Li, executive vice president of BYD and head of its international business, laid out the company’s next phase of global strategy at a summit in Singapore, saying BYD aims to overtake Toyota and Volkswagen within five years to become the world’s largest automaker.
She said BYD will continue its overseas expansion, focusing on Europe, Central America, South America, Asia and Oceania. She also emphasized that the company is a leader in energy storage, solar power and batteries, with battery technology remaining one of its core strengths beyond automobiles.
On the United States, Li made clear that BYD will not enter the market for now. She cited proposed U.S. legislation that would further restrict Chinese connected vehicles and vehicle software, noting that even Polestar, which has a U.S. factory, has had to redirect sales to other markets.
“BYD wants an operating environment with certainty and a clear outlook, so that we can take the initiative in making investments,” she said.
This is not the first time BYD has set a five-year target to reach the top. At a shareholders’ meeting in June, chairman Wang Chuanfu said the company aimed to become the world’s largest automaker by scale within five years. In July, Li added that the goal would be achieved through organic growth, without relying on the U.S. market or acquiring other carmakers.
The gap remains large. In 2025, Toyota Group sold about 11.32 million vehicles globally, Volkswagen Group about 8.98 million, and BYD about 4.60 million. In the first half of 2026, Toyota sold 5.39 million vehicles, while BYD sold 1.81 million, leaving a gap of nearly three times. To close that difference in five years, BYD would need to add more than one million vehicles to its annual sales each year.
Overseas markets are expected to be the main driver of that. BYD’s factories in Thailand and Uzbekistan are already in production, its Hungarian plant began trial production earlier this year and is scheduled for mass production in the fourth quarter, and plants in Brazil and Indonesia are under construction. In September, BYD’s new energy passenger vehicle wholesale sales reached 456,713 units, with overseas sales of 179,877 units, up 153.9 percent year on year.
