BYD is chasing Toyota’s crown and decided it doesn’t need America to get there

An assumption implicit in the global strategy of almost every major carmaker. To become the greatest you have to conquer America.

BYD’s head of international operationsStella Lee believes this notion is outdated.

Asked about founder Wang Chuanfu’s goal of overtaking Toyota as the world’s largest carmaker within five years, Li said the company does not need the US market to get there.

BYD is currently out of passenger car sales in the US due to tariffs and restrictions on Chinese automotive technology. Lee’s position is that this does not change the destination, only the route.

This is an ambitious claim by any measure. BYD sold about 4.5 million vehicles last year. Toyota sold 10.5 million. Bridging that gap without access to the world’s second-largest car market would represent one of the more remarkable strategic maneuvers the industry has seen.

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The scale of the task becomes clear when you look at BYD’s recent trajectory. The company’s first-half sales fell 16 percent as intense domestic competition and soft demand hit China’s EV market more than expected.

The country that gave BYD an early lead is no longer able to deliver the same growth it used to, making an international pivot less of a choice and more of a necessity.

Europe has become the primary focus. BYD’s European market share more than doubled to 2.8 percent in May, overtaking Ford, Tesla and Nissan in the process.

The company is supporting that momentum with €2 billion (~$3.3 billion AUD) committed to installing 3,000 ultra-fast chargers across Europe by 2027, supporting a new generation of vehicles that can charge up to 70 percent in about five minutes.

Beyond Europe, BYD is pushing hard in Latin America and Southeast Asia, treating the U.S. absence as a gap to fill elsewhere rather than a limit to ambition.

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The next problem is the premium solution

Volume growth takes BYD closer to Toyota’s numbers. Something else is needed to completely bridge the gap.

The company is moving towards the premium segment through its Denza brand, and the recently unveiled Denza Z electric supercar, priced at A$273,000 and aimed at Porsche 911 territory, is the clearest expression of that ambition yet.

BYD has also stepped back from the idea of ​​acquiring an established European manufacturer, preferring to develop its own brands rather than buying someone else’s legacy.

Lee said the company would be open-minded if the right opportunity presented itself, but organic growth appears to be the preferred path.

The logic behind all this is quite simple. If BYD can build enough scale in Europe, Latin America, Southeast Asia and other markets, the math could eventually work out without a single US sale.

Whether it holds up against Toyota which itself is pushing into EVs and defending its position globally remains to be tested.

Reaching number one without America would be truly unprecedented in modern automotive history. BYD seems to have decided that this is a reason to try it, not a reason to avoid it.