BYD names geopolitics as biggest hurdle, puts US passenger car sales on hold

BYD, the Chinese automaker, has named geopolitics as the biggest hurdle to its expansion, according to Stella Li, the company's executive vice president. Li made this statement at the Milken Institute Asia Summit in Singapore, months after BYD's chairman expressed his ambition to become the world's largest automaker within five years.

Li explained that the company seeks certainty and visibility in its business dealings to enable investment. However, she noted that geopolitics makes it difficult to understand the motives and actions of other countries, which hinders their expansion plans.

Currently, BYD has decided to postpone selling passenger cars in the US due to the complexity of the market. Li stated that the lack of clarity, visibility, and stability in the US market for passenger cars has led to this decision. The company has been in the US for a considerable amount of time but has chosen to hold off on entering the US passenger car market at this moment.

BYD has no plans to partner with other Chinese companies as it is already a leader in various sectors, including storage and solar panels. Li emphasized that BYR is not just a car company but a leader in multiple businesses. The company has also faced challenges in hiring enough personnel in China and plans to utilize industrial robots in the future.

Li highlighted that BYD's stock on the Hong Kong exchange is significantly undervalued compared to US companies, considering BYD's engineering capabilities beyond just manufacturing cars. Lastly, Li mentioned that Nvidia remains a very strong chip partner for BYD.