As the saying goes: it seems that the most extraordinary is easy but difficult. This sentence is most appropriate for BYD founder Wang Chuanfu.
As early as 2003, WHEN BYD acquired Qinchuan Automobile, when Wang Chuanfu firmly believed that new energy vehicles would replace fuel vehicles, many people would scorn him. After 2021, the replacement of fuel vehicles by new energy vehicles is beyond doubt. Some people say that 2021 is the first year of China's new energy vehicle market, and likewise, 2021 is also the year of BYD's take-off.
In the already concluded 2021, BYD's annual passenger car sales reached 730,100 units, an increase of 75.4% year-on-year. Among them, the sales volume of new energy vehicles was 593,700 units, an increase of 231.6% year-on-year. In addition, since 2020, BYD's two major subversive technologies of lithium iron phosphate blade battery and super hybrid DM-i have provided technical support for the explosion of BYD's car sales. With this eye-catching report card, there is no need to wait for other car companies to release sales in December last year, ANDD has firmly sat in the first place in domestic new energy vehicle sales.
From doing 3C foundries, feuding with Foxconn, to doing new energy vehicles, and Tesla, in recent years, BYD's road to advancement can be described as strong as a forest, but it has made rapid progress like an open hanging. Why can BYD accurately "step on the point" every step? All this should start with Wang Chuanfu, who likes to engage in research and development.
First, "technology hanging" Wang Chuanfu
Huawei President Ren Zhengfei once publicly stated that "I will not let Meng Wanzhou take over Huawei because she has no technical background." In contrast, Wang Chuanfu can be described as an out-and-out "technical hanging".
In 1987, Central South University welcomed a group of graduates, including Wang Chuanfu, majoring in metallurgical physical chemistry. As a full-fledged academic school, Wang Chuanfu chose to enter the Beijing Nonferrous Metals Research Institute to pursue a master's degree after graduation, and then successfully stayed in the hospital to work. Just when everyone thought that Wang Chuanfu would sit on the cold bench in the laboratory for a lifetime, he did something that his relatives and friends could not understand- going to the sea to do business.
Wang Chuanfu grew up in a poor family, lost his parents since childhood, and was brought up by his brother and sister-in-law. Nowadays, he has "smashed" the golden rice bowl exchanged for his own cold window hard reading, and many people have expressed their opposition. But Wang Chuanfu's painful experience from childhood made him extremely resolute and decisive, and in 1995, Wang Chuanfu quit his executive job at the research institute and borrowed 2.5 million yuan from his cousin Lu Xiangyang to start BYD in Shenzhen.
Thanks to Wang Chuanfu's technical ability in the field of batteries, and the large transfer of the Japanese nickel-cadmium battery industry chain at that time, BYD seized this historical opportunity, in less than 2 years, with a cost advantage of 40% cheaper, defeated the former nickel-cadmium battery industry overlords Such as Sanyo, Sony and other Japanese companies, and became the largest battery supplier of mobile phone manufacturers such as Nokia and Motorola, occupying a market share of more than 70%. In 2003, Wang Chuanfu once again tried to overcome public opinion and acquired Qinchuan Automobile and entered the field of electric vehicles. In 2008, buffett, the "god of stocks", strategically joined BYD, and BYD's stock price ushered in a sharp rise. The following year, Wang Chuanfu became the richest man in mainland Hurun with a value of 35 billion yuan.
However, unlike many entrepreneurs who have become the richest people to get involved in film and television, entertainment, football and other fields, Wang Chuanfu is still obsessed with technology research and development.
Second, Wang Chuanfu: The chip is not made by God
Wang Chuanfu is used to wearing beige BYD overalls and mingling with engineers, and in BYD's huge production workshop, you can't see who Wang Chuanfu is. Up to now, there are 35,000 engineers in BYD's team, and the R&D team led by Wang Chuanfu has also brought more than 21,000 technology patents to BYD. In the list of the top 500 Chinese patent enterprises in 2020, BYD ranked 14th.
Relying on a strong R & D team, BYD has reached a market value of nearly 800 billion yuan in less than 20 years, surpassing the old fuel car giants such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Volkswagen, and becoming the world's third largest automobile company after Tesla and Toyota.
For a long time, relying on cheap land and labor, China's manufacturing industry has been hovering at the end of the global industrial chain. It is the sudden rise of national manufacturing brands such as BYD, Huawei, Gree and Fuyao, carrying the banner of "Made in China".
When Zhang Zhongmou, the founder of TSMC, satirized China's "unable to make a chip with the strength of the whole country", only a tough science and engineering man like Wang Chuanfu dared to face it and retort: "The chip is not made by God." Chinese have never been afraid of the core technology, can the nation that can make the spaceship go to heaven, can only do some low-end processing of chicken and dog pieces?
1. A number of industrial lines have blossomed in an all-round way
With the technical confidence and strong sense of national cultural identity, in addition to mastering core technologies in traditional fields such as new energy vehicles and automobile power batteries, BYD has also continued to exert efforts on new tracks such as 3C foundries, cloud rail transportation, and electric buses, becoming a trendsetter leading the global industrial chain.
When encountering a global health emergency, BYD can also successfully mobilize 3,000 engineers and more than 100,000 industrial workers in just a few days, transform the automobile production line into a mask production line, and become the world's largest mask manufacturer.
2. Industry leader of automotive chips
In 2021, for global car companies, it can be said that it is a cold winter all year round, and more than 60% of car companies have fallen into the "lack of core" crisis, and Toyota, General Motors, Volkswagen and other car companies have to limit production and work. In the case of the downturn in the entire automotive industry, BYD is completely unaffected by the "chip shortage" with a complete IGBT chip production chain.
Compared with its counterparts in domestic car companies that rely on foreign suppliers such as Bosch and Infineon, BYD is the first domestic car company to enter the IGBT chip. In 2008, BYD acquired Ningbo Zhongwei Semiconductor Company for 200 million yuan, and after more than 10 years of technology precipitation and algorithm research and development, BYD has successfully developed a 90nm high-end vehicle "IGBT chip". When Apple, Audi and other big manufacturers came to talk about purchasing this technology, Wang Chuanfu once responded domineeringly: "Do not sell to foreigners." ”
Today, BYD's flagship model "Han" is equipped with a new generation of silicon carbide MOSFET motor control module, which helps the car accelerate to 100km/h in just 3.9 seconds. In the future, silicon carbide chips will become another subversive product for BYD to lead the in-vehicle chips.
3. Blade battery landed in the European market
While Wang Chuanfu kept the domestic market in order, the "battle" to land in Europe had already begun. In March 2021, BYD officially announced that the Tang EV will be sold in the Norwegian market. In order to "open the door" in the European market, BYD has a total of 1500 Tang EVs equipped with 86.4 kWh blade batteries entering the European market in 2021.
In extreme tests such as fire, needle punching and extrusion, the blade battery is complete and stable in structure, and does not smoke or fire. And in terms of service life and endurance, it greatly exceeds the traditional ternary lithium battery. As Isbrand, general manager of BYD Europe, said: BYD's blade batteries have changed the pattern of the EV industry.
3. Summary
With excellent technical strength, Wang Chuanfu led all BYD employees to win honors and wealth. At the same time, Wang Chuanfu also knew about Entu Bao. When his brother and sister-in-law brought him to adulthood, now his brother-in-law's family lives on the opposite side of Wang Chuanfu's house. Lu Xiangyang, a cousin who borrowed Wang Chuanfu for 2.5 million yuan in 1995, has now become rich of more than 150 billion yuan. In the early days of BYD's entrepreneurship, thanks to shenzhen's preferential loan policy for innovative technology enterprises, BYD was able to quickly establish a production line that could rival that of Japanese battery giants.
In 2018, Wang Chuanfu said in an interview: "Without Shenzhen, there would be no BYD." But not all technical geniuses know gratitude, such as the former "battery king" Zhong Xinjia, after donating 70 million to American universities, he made a statement that "Chinese poverty has nothing to do with me".
Knowing technology and gratitude, it is no wonder that in 2008, when Buffett hesitated whether to invest in BYD, his old partner Charlie Munger gave Buffett a "reassuring pill": "Wang Chuanfu is a combination of Edison and Welch, and we must vote for him." As one of the few entrepreneurs in China's national manufacturing industry who integrates technology and management in Dentons, Charlie Munger's comments on Wang Chuanfu at that time can be described as profound and far-sighted.