James Kynge

So that is a complete game changer.

I remember that BYD car that we drove in Germany.

We had to spend about 35 minutes trying to charge it.

All the time we were fretting about whether or not we were going to miss our plane.

So I really do think that what we're seeing now in terms of BYD's penetration into global markets is just the beginning.

Just a couple of numbers to put a little bit of flesh on the bones.

BYD's registrations in Germany have jumped 10 times in January 2026 compared to a year ago.

And BYD now ranks sixth globally in terms of total auto sales.

So that's EVs and non-EVs.

And that puts it ahead of Ford for the first time ever.

And we don't have to remind any of our listeners that Ford's been around for more than 100 years.

So this is a true phenomenon that we're trying to describe here.

Do you like BYD or Teslas or, you know, have you driven any of these cars?

Yeah, I'm in Hong Kong at the moment, Alice, and I just had a BYD experience today, actually.

Well, not really a BYD, but certainly a Chinese EV experience.

I was talking to somebody at an event that I was at here, and they said to me, so I'm assuming that you drive an EV, and actually I don't.

Back in the UK, I drive an internal combustion engine car, like an old-style car,

And they looked almost offended that I would have the temerity to be using a gas guzzler at a time like this when oil prices are rising so much and the environment is such a big topic.

So I also think that peer pressure is going to have an increasing influence on this topic as well.

BYD has comprehensively overtaken Tesla now in terms of vehicles sold around the world