China’s leading electric-vehicle maker BYD has pledged to work with rival Tesla to combat petrol cars, while insisting that Beijing was “more open” to foreign business than the west.
“Our common enemy is the internal combustion engine car. We need to work together . . . to make the industry change,” said BYD’s executive vice-president Stella Li in an interview with the Financial Times.
Despite her comments, the two carmakers are vying to be the world’s largest EV group. BYD is aiming for rapid sales growth of advanced EVs in Europe with more product offerings than the US company. Tesla, in turn, has suffered a decline in European sales on the back of Elon Musk’s increasing political activism.