9:32 am, July 11, 2025
BYD’s success in the UK is down to the ‘open-minded’ nature of buyers here, the Chinese firm’s UK boss has told Car Dealer.
Bono Ge, country manager of BYD UK passenger cars, was speaking at the Goodwood Festival of Speed where the Chinese firm was launching new brand Denza with a trio of new products.
BYD has previously targeted rapid roll-out within the UK through a variety of dealer partners and it’s this learning that the brand will use to develop Denza as a more premium, tech-heavy option.
Ge added that the recent surge in Chinese brands within the UK is partly down to the buyers remaining ‘open-minded’ here.
‘UK customers are really open-minded,’ Ge told Car Dealer as he listed the reasons why BYD is succeeding here.
‘There’s not a lot of OEM in the UK, so that’s like an open market. And then, people here really like technologies, so we introduce a lot of technology’
Ge added that the UK’s ‘really clear time frame’ for the ZEV mandate has meant that BYD has ‘got a really clear path from today – so we believe that’s a great opportunity.’
‘From our point of view, we think we’re okay because we were the first traditional OEM to give up ICE production.’
Ge also added that the launch of several Chinese brands in the UK – including firms such as Jaecoo, Omoda and Chery – was a ‘great thing’ for customers.
Despite the increased competition, BYD remains confident of coming out on top, and is aiming to become Britain’s biggest car brand in the next three years.
‘There’s a lot of competition, but we are really confident. We’ve got the best technologies and we’re number one (EV brand) in the UK,’ he said.
‘So that’s why we’re also really confident about UK markets. We just don’t want to offer something just really, really cheap. We want value for money and good technologies.’
