BYD (“Honda in China”), Geely Auto (“Toyota in China”), and Great Wall Motors ( it is similar to Nissan) are some of the earliest new energy vehicle companies established in China.
Compared to NIO, Xpeng and Li Auto that have just entered the market, BYD, Geely Auto and Great Wall Motors are more mature and can determine the future development of the Chinese NEV market. Therefore, it is essential to compare them.
Here is an establishment timeline for reference:
Comparison between BYD, Geely Auto, and Great Wall Motors
| BYD | Geely Auto | Great Wall Motors | |
| Car sales in first half 2021 | 740,000 | 1,328,000 | 1.265,000 |
| % sales increased | 73.3% | 0.5% | 15% |
| NEV car sales (first half 2021) | >600,000 | >100,000 | >100,000 |
| Net profit in first half 2021 (billion RMB) | 11.7 | 23.8 | 35.3 |
| % profit increased | -30% | 3% | 207.9% |
| Revenue in first half 2021(billion RMB) | 908.9 | 450.3 | 619.3 |
| % revenue increased | 50.2% | 22.3% | 70.4% |
| Market value (billion RMB) | 8,907 | 2,657 | 6,281 |
| Technology | Independent Well-known Blade battery | Dependent on Nidec | Dependent on UAES |
| Business focus | Technology | Branding | Product |
Number of Sales
- Although suffering from a shortage of chips in 2021, self-owned car brands represented by BYD, Geely Auto, and Great Wall Motors all present a large increase in the number of sales. Among them, Geely and Great Wall Motors have sold more than a million cars last year. While BYD only surpassed the number of 740,000.
- However, BYD became the top NEV seller, selling more than 600,000 NEVs. This number is far higher than Geely or Great Wall Motors, not to mention ‘newbies’ such as Xpeng and Tesla.
Technology
Compared to its opponents, BYD has a great advantage due to its early preparation in automotive batteries and electromotive cars’ technologies.
- The blade battery BYD developed significantly enhances the efficiency of energy storage and increases the extent of space utilisation
- BYD’s brands like Han-EV, Qin-EV are popular because their motors
- BYD’s monthly installed capacity is at top 3 in China
Although Geely and Great Wall Motors developed some of the key technologies in NEV fields, they have a lot to catch up on.
- Geely’s electric motors and batteries for ZEEKR, one of their high-end brands, are partly dependent on CATL and Nidec.
- Great Wall Motors’ electric motors for ORA are provided by UAES instead of self-produced.
BYD has the most perfect production system compared to others. Geely and Great Wall Motors noticed their own disadvantage and tried to surpass BYD by developing their own hybrid technology.
The focus of company development
Chuanfu Wang, the executive director of BYD, always values technology. BYD developed:
- the secondary chargeable batteries in 1995,
- the first electromotive vehicle that is independent of the professional charger in 2008,
- and the current hybrid motive technology and blade batteries.
- Every step of innovation of BYD is leading NEV’s development.
Shufu Li, the starter of Geely Auto, has acquired numerous engine and gearbox technologies via purchasing Volvo, one of the world’s most famous car brands.
Great Wall Motor and its CEO Jianjun Li are somewhat biassed towards NEVs.
- ‘Actually, NEV is not environmentally sustainable at all. We generate electricity out of coal, and this produces 10 times more pollution than natural gas.’ explained Jianjun Li in the Annual General Meeting in 2016.
- Great Wall Motors’ new brand ORA is the only competitive NEV brand it has. Transiting from a new recognition to new sets of actions, the Great Wall Motor needs a lot of time.
