BYD, an electric-vehicle maker in China that’s close to overtaking Tesla in global EV sales, shared a video earlier this year that sent shivers through the auto industry. The narrator urged China’s EV makers to “demolish the old legends and achieve new world-class brands.”
It isn’t impossible. A key advantage for Chinese EV makers as they go global is their dominance in the supply chain, which helps them keep costs low. BYD, for instance, owns the supply chain of its EV batteries, from the raw materials to the finished battery packs. It also designs its own semiconductors.
