2023-04-21 09:55:48
This is the new face of the electric car: the Chinese Chuanfu, boss of the Byd group, has become Tesla’s main competitor. It holds a fifth of the electric bus market in the world, but it is now the European individual that it is trying to seduce. Three of his models have just landed in France. Portrait of an entrepreneur who plays the card of technological innovation in the service of the climate.
It is under this green label that Wang Chuanfu introduced himself officially ahead of its European customers at the end of last year. Carbon footprint and supporting figures: more than one and a half million cars sold worldwide in 2022, including plug-in hybrids. It’s almost as good as Tesla, which still maintains a short lead on 100% electric cars.
Started from nothing
The story of this entrepreneur has everything of a fable. It begins 57 years ago in a rural region of eastern China. Orphaned as a teenager, he was raised by his brothers and sisters who, according to family legend, tightened their belts to allow him to study science. A successful bet, since in 1995, he founded Byd, a company designing small rechargeable batteries – those used in mobile phones – and quickly put himself at the level of the pioneers in the field. It becomes the supplier of market giants like Nokia, Motorola or Samsung.
The automobile will not arrive in his wake until later, in 2003, when he buys the manufacturer Tsinchuan. “ He is one of those legends of Chinese capitalism who have very humble beginnings, who were the first to rise to power in the Chinese economy, with the condition sine here not to know how to get into the right networks at the political level says Jean-François Dufour, co-founder of the Sinopole analysis network.
Inaccessible et secret
Wang Chuanfu has the reputation of being a cautious character, who does not expose himself much. Of his personality, little is known. “ That said, we know a few traits of humornuance Jean-François Dufour. While Byd officially means “Build Your Dreams” [« Construisez vos rêves », NDLR], the unofficial version of its founder would be “Bring Your Dollars” [« Ramenez vos dollars »]. »
In 2008, he became the first fortune in China, when the American businessman Warren Buffett entered the capital of Byd. The Chinese authorities do not see this meteoric rise with a very good eye and reproach him “ slightly excessive ambitionsrecalls Jean-François Dufour. He had a bit of a strained relationship with power at the time, but once the message was received, Byd [s’est pleinement inséré] in national projects ».
In 2011, a long report by l’ONG China Labor Watch singles out the company because of the poor working conditions suffered by its employees: very low incomes, infernal speeds… Several waves of suicides are regularly documented in the Chinese press. But, according to Jean-François Dufour, these events were not a brake on the growth of Byd.
A national hero
In China, Byd’s leadership is well establishedeven if it is beginning to be challenged by young start-up who also want to go electric…
However, for Professor Huai-Yuan Han, who teaches entrepreneurial strategy and the Chinese economy, it has the advantage of being a « un vertical integration model »that is to say that he controls the entire production chain, from the battery to the coat of varnish applied to the vehicle.
It is this visionary side that has made him an icon in the eyes of his compatriots: “ It’s more like a national hero. China has often been threatened by Westerners, and suddenly a Chinese entrepreneur is getting into something before the market is dominated by Westerners. China is starting to have its own brands. She never thought that a Chinese company could succeed in automobiles. For professionals or for university students, I find Wang Chuanfu to be outstanding.. »
Eyes on the African continent
In 2017, he concluded with a handshake with King Mohammed VI the installation of a Byd factory in northern Morocco. Next goal for him : acquire six mines of lithium, a metal essential for the production of these rechargeable batteries. This is revealed by the Chinese newspaper The Paper. Their location and the conditions under which they will be operated, however, are not yet known.
Worldwide, lithium is present in large quantities in China and South America. On the African continent, the deposits would be smaller in size, according to geologists from the British Geological Surveybut are believed to be primarily in Zimbabwe, Namibia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali and Ghana.
► To listen also: Electric vehicles: Chinese champion Byd poses as a rival to Tesla
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