Common development of electric vehicles depends on openness, innovation: BYD chairman

Wang Chuanfu, chairman of China's leading electric vehicle (EV) maker BYD, said on Monday that the common development of the EV industry depends on openness and innovation, following a symposium headed by Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee.

Xi, who is also chairman of China's Central Military Commission, delivered an important speech at the symposium following consultations with private entrepreneurs.

Wang, who attended and spoke at the meeting, said he has greater faith in the private economy sector after listening to Xi's speech, and said development will accelerate if everyone has confidence and ambition.

"In 2014, 10 years ago, the general secretary said that if China wants to move from a big automobile country to an automobile powerhouse, new energy vehicles are the only way forward. And 10 years later, you can see the radical changes in the sector. BYD has truly experienced the far-sightedness of the CPC Central Committee over the past 10 years. At the symposium, the general secretary put forward many requirements on how to implement various policies. I believe that we must learn from the requirements and instructions of the general secretary. If we have confidence, we can run the enterprise better and better," he said.

Wang said China's new energy vehicles are taking a leading role across the world thanks to the openness and innovation of the companies involved and the hard work of their employees.

"China's new energy vehicle technology is about three to five years ahead in terms of products, technology and industrial chain. Only through openness and innovation can the world see the good products and achieve common development. We don't have any other skills, we just rely on technological innovation. If we say what our assets are, I think my biggest asset is the team of engineers. We have 110,000 engineers, which is my biggest asset at BYD. Behind each of our technologies is innovation, behind each of our technologies is green development, and behind each of our technologies is the hard work of 110,000 engineers," said Wang.

Common development of electric vehicles depends on openness, innovation: BYD chairman

Common development of electric vehicles depends on openness, innovation: BYD chairman

The head of German auto giant Mercedes-Benz has stressed the automaker is looking to navigate through the current challenges facing the auto sector by investing in innovation, technology and new products, with the firm introducing a wave of new vehicle models.

Ola Kallenius, Chairman of the Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz Group AG, was speaking in an interview with the China Global Television Network (CGTN), during which he acknowledged that intense competition amid a complex environment is squeezing profit margins, particularly in key markets such as China.

Kallenius listed several external pressures facing the company which come amid the wider changes taking place across the industry, and said automakers will simply have to adapt in order to remain competitive.

"I don't think that the intense competitive situation in China is going to go away any time soon, so there will be pressure here. Of course, the tariff system, especially for a global company like Mercedes-Benz, it has changed and we have to accept that now. And there are also other regulatory challenges or other things that's going on in the world," he said.

Kallenius said that while making efforts to manage disruptions in the short-term, the Mercedes-Benz Group is investing more in innovation, technology and products.

He noted that as part of this strategy the firm is unveiling 40 new models in the three-year period up to 2027 as it looks to build momentum to overcome the present difficulties.

"I think that 2026 for us is a year of execution, actually bringing models into the pipeline [and we aim to] build upon that in 2027 and 2028. So we take for this financial picture, we take like a mid-term view," he said.

"We have a solid foundation. Yes, it is a tougher business environment than it was maybe three years ago. But we can deal with it and we want to build ourselves into a stronger position over the next years into the mid-term carried by the product offensive," Kallenius said.

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