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BYD, the world's largest electric vehicle (EV) maker by sales, has announced that the Chinese EV market has entered a consolidation stage, with some players being eliminated while others grab a larger share of the market. Wang Chuanfu, founder, chairman, and CEO of the Chinese carmaker, stated that this stage was inevitable as the supply of EVs exceeded demand, and a price war ensued. "Some players in the EV market will not last, while others will take a bigger market share," he said.

BYD, backed by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, plans to continue heading the pack, with Wang revealing that the company's EV sales in the first quarter of 2023 would increase by more than 80% year on year. The company had posted a record quarterly profit a day earlier.

"We have seen strong growth, and we will try to maintain our prices and profit margins," Wang added, emphasizing that BYD's brand and scale gave it an advantage over its competitors. Many of BYD's vehicles cost less than 200,000 yuan (US$29,052), compared with about 300,000 yuan (US$ 43,578.44) for most smart EVs.

BYD's pure electric and plug-in hybrid cars sales have increased since Q2 of 2022 as more middle-class drivers in China move away from premium vehicles built by Tesla and its Chinese rivals, such as Xpeng, Li Auto, and Nio, and towards cheaper models assembled by BYD. In 2022, BYD more than tripled its sales to 1.9 million cars, the most among China's EV makers, and overtook Tesla to become the biggest EV company in the world in the process.

According to Wang, the growth of the EV market mean a huge shake-up in the global car industry is coming, with the shift from petrol and diesel power now unstoppable. BYD has extended its global footprint beyond China over the past few years but has no plans to enter the US market, adding that the worldwide demand for EVs is still growing. BYD currently exports its vehicles to Europe, Southeast Asia, and South America.

Beijing is promoting EVs in a bid to cut air pollution, and the country is now the world's biggest EV market. According to a report by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), EV sales in China have tripled to 1.25 million vehicles in 2021, and the International Energy Agency (IEA) predicted that China's slice of the global EV market could increase from 50% to 60% by the end of the decade.

As the Chinese EV market grows, companies such as BYD will be well-positioned to capitalize on this trend, leveraging their brand, scale, and expertise to stay ahead of their competitors. Despite the price war and consolidation stage, the long-term outlook for the EV market in China remains positive, with government support and increasing consumer demand.