Dream, is a very common word in the slogans of BYD. The Chinese domestic car manufacturer’ name is short for Build Your Dream. Meanwhile, the company holds three green dreams – solar power, electric car and energy storage. Moreover, BYD also has a dream to become Chinese No.1 carmaker in 2015 and Global No.1 carmaker in 2020.
However, statistics showed BYD’s sales decreased 15.37% in the first eleven months of 2011. It is mainly attributed to the rapid aging of the F3 model, which was the national sales champion.
F3 is the first famous car from BYD, it is an imitation of Toyota Corolla 9<sup>th</sup> generation, and few people can distinguish those two cars at first glance. Before the 10<sup>th</sup> generation of Corolla hit the market, F3 just costs one third of a real Corolla. F3 realized many people’s dream. For the average person, especially who live in small towns and villages, they can not only buy an honorable sedan with about 60,000 RMB (€7130), but also buy some Toyota logos to convert F3 into a ‘real’ Corolla with less than 100 RMB (€12).
This year, F3’s sales volumes decreased sharply, but a new star of BYD is rising, which is called the S6. In November, S6’s sales surpassed F3 for the first time, becoming the bestselling model in the BYD lineup.
S6 inherited F3’s spirit – an imitation aiming at a right market. The profile of S6 looks like the old Lexus RX 300 (shown in the pictures). Although S6’s wheelbase is 5 millimeter longer than RX 300, most consumers still regard it as a ‘small Lexus’. The Lexus logo and RX-like grille radiator are very welcomed by S6 buyers.
It is not surprising if one or two young guys attach a Ferrari logo on their Toyota Celica for fun, at least they may not hate Toyota. But as to BYD, many buyers dislike the brand. The only reason they buy a BYD is to realize their dream is to afford a famous brand name car. For example, Zhang and Li are grown up in a small town and working in a big city now. Zhang paid 90,000 RMB (€10. 6k) for the S6 and a set of Lexus logos, while Li paid 200,000 RMB (€23.8k) for an original Volkswagen Tiguan. What will happen when they go back home together? Zhang’s parents will be very proud because their son can afford a Lexus – their neighbors are unlikely to detect the truth. Chinese people care greatly about others’ opinions of themselves.
Sales volume of the S6 is still increasing, but imitation is not a sustainable way. Chery, Geely and other local brands are growing out of imitation, while joint ventures’ local brands are introducing cheap but original models – they are all threatening BYD.Thus, to realize the No.1 carmaker dream, BYD has to fulfill the independent R&D dream at first, rather than just fulfill some people’s “famous car” dreams.
