BYD's tattered WikiLeaks national brand is cheap and reasonable?

A diplomatic telegram provided by WikiLeaks was exposed by Reuters, which recorded a complaint against BYD, an independent Chinese brand. The authenticity of the telegraph is still uncertain, but the content is worthy of the study of independent brands in China. The wordless message of this wording mentions that BYD has repeatedly stolen competitors’ design plans to save R&D costs, lower prices and crack down on competitors, and cut corners in safety facilities, but the telegraph did not provide any reliable evidence.

The Reuters article claims that BYD's own strategy for developing all automotive parts and components is actually equivalent to stealing technology from other companies. U.S. suppliers complained that BYD will order a number of components such as car door panels, then cancel the subsequent business transactions, then copy the components through reverse engineering, and finally use them in new models.

This is not the first time that BYD has been "demonized." Of course, in the eyes of overseas media, some behaviors of BYD are very common and typical phenomena in the Chinese auto industry. They are afraid of Chinese car companies like BYD entering their home markets. Earlier, BYD President Wang Chuanfu claimed that the company plans to launch test-selling of e6 pure electric vehicles in the United States in 2011 and sales of electric and hybrid vehicles in Europe in 2012.

European and American countries have extremely high demands on automobile quality and environmental protection standards and are almost harsh. Currently, e6 has successfully passed the cycling certification test of the Dutch certification body RDW, becoming the first pure electric car in China to be officially licensed in Europe. The suspicion of BYD’s capabilities by US officials cannot affect the progress of its electric vehicles entering the United States.

In response to the above telegraph exposure, BYD’s U.S. Vice President Michael Austin wrote in an e-mail: “Where is the real technology and intellectual property? Is it a metal plate wrapped around the car? Or has it created a zero-emission car? Genius design? No noise, no odor, no smoke, this is an environmentally friendly car. It sells for $10,800 in Shenzhen, China (after the subsidy of the state and local governments)—this is the genius.

Regarding the alleged plagiarism of BYD mentioned in the telegram, he explained: “BYD’s business and intellectual property practices are compliant and regulated in China and around the world. If (other car manufacturers) really appeal, we Will work hard to solve it."

Zhao Hang, director of the China Automotive Technology and Research Center, said that he had been intercepted by high-level Toyota Motor Corporation in Japan and that the other claimed that the door of BYD F3 could be placed on the body of the corolla. This made Zhao ridiculed. However, Toyota chose silence in China and did not resort to BYD. F3's hot sales confirmed the "justification of the cottage." More media outlets took advantage of BYD's competition with Toyota, and even appeared such enthusiasm as "BYD killed Toyota."

Because BYD, who has been plagiarized and never complained, has become a subject of ridicule, he has also learned a lot of anti-stress skills during the nights and nights that the media deliberately vilified. BYD admits that its design ability needs to be improved, but it will not be so stupid as to only make money and go to the others. Otherwise, the development of BYD in overseas markets will not be so smooth. Those overseas companies that believe that Chinese courts are partial to suspected plagiarism and have maliciously speculated on Chinese national brands should stop talking.

For BYD, “the profit for each car sold is less than 146 US dollars”, it is unavoidable to be questioned because this kind of low-cost operation and seemingly “fraudulent” competition is not recognized by foreign mainstream business rules. As a national brand, BYD’s story of glory for the country far exceeds its negative news, but selling cheap cars is by no means a quality that “future international companies” should possess. Fortunately, while China's own brands are gradually ridding themselves of the suspects, they are also rethinking their own competitive strategies. If you have the ability and patience, make a decisive bid to bid farewell to the history of crushing costs.