BYD Holds Steady with Pragmatic Resolve for Its Century-Long Journey Amid Global Competition

Jun 18, 2025

Highlighting product and tech shifts at the Shanghai Auto Show, BYD’s ESOP practices, and a pragmatic organizational path—offering strategic direction for Chinese firms aiming for long-term success.

Under the spotlight of the 2025 Shanghai Auto Exhibition, the global automotive industry once again witnessed a clash between legacy giants and emerging players. This event is not only a battleground for new technological paradigms and product architectures, but also a mirror reflecting the profound shifts in industry power dynamics amid the ongoing reshaping of the global value chain.

Undeniably, within this cycle of transformation, Chinese automotive brands are progressing from “manufacturing participants” to “industry definers.”

Among them, BYD is undergoing a powerful evolution—from a cost and scale-driven growth model to one driven by high value-added growth—underpinned by its deep integration across the automotive value chain, exceptional financial resilience, and rapidly escalating brand equity. At the heart of this transformation lies a new value curve guided by pragmatic principles. More than just a growth strategy, it is a blueprint for building a century-lasting enterprise—one that contributes a defining chapter to the global rise of Chinese manufacturing.

Against the backdrop of profound global market segmentation and the reshaping of geopolitical structures, corporate leaders around the world are confronting an inescapable strategic challenge: how to achieve sustainable, high-quality growth at the convergence of industry turbulence and accelerated technological change—navigating cyclical fluctuations while maintaining a long-term outlook.

Simultaneously, driven by the national 15th “Five-Year Plan”, China’s economy is entering a new phase powered by “new quality productive forces.” The core mandate is clear: to drive the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries, foster emerging sectors, and strategically position future industries. This transformation is led by technological innovation and underpinned by the real economy. It is not merely an optimization of efficiency and cost, but a comprehensive enhancement of Total Factor Productivity (TFP)—encompassing technological progress, efficiency improvements, resource intensification, and systematic restructuring of factor allocation efficiency.

As a strategic industry characterized by high technological complexity, capital intensity, strong brand influence, and robust consumer momentum, the automotive sector naturally serves as a critical testing ground for enhancing Total Factor Productivity. This sector not only challenges companies to integrate technological innovation with efficiency optimization but also demands breakthrough advances in resource allocation, supply chain coordination, and organizational governance.

BYD, as the frontrunner of China’s automotive industry, has taken the lead in this new race. Guided by pragmatic principles, BYD has achieved multi-dimensional synergies in product architecture, technological stack deployment, organizational governance, and financial modeling—thereby establishing a comprehensive value creation ecosystem that spans from “manufacturing” to “value.” Its intrinsic dynamism is derived from a profound understanding of value creation, precise control over end-to-end efficiency, and a systematic approach to building organizational resilience and long-term competitiveness.

In an era where global enterprises are re-evaluating the logic of “enduring enterprises,” long-term value creation is emerging as an increasingly scarce competitive asset compared to short-term bursts of performance. For Chinese companies, building a century-long legacy is no longer an abstract vision. BYD is exemplifying the hallmark of a world-class giant through its systematic capabilities: establishing its foundation on pragmatism and pursuing enduring success through resilience.

Within this context, Premier seeks to deconstruct BYD’s trajectory of transformation from a multifaceted perspective, distilling its strategic steadfastness, financial performance momentum, and talent aggregation capabilities. Moreover, the analysis offers insights through an “organizational resilience framework characterized by pragmatism,” intended to guide and support the development of more enduring automotive enterprises:

1. From Participants to Definers: The New Landscape of Automotive Products and Technologies at the Shanghai Auto Exhibition

2. From Business Gains to Organizational Momentum: Insights into BYD’s ESOP Incentive Practices

3. From Pragmatism to Value Alignment: Forging a Century-Lasting Organizational Foundation