BYD reboots Europe operations after strategic stumbles, sources say
China's leading EV maker BYD is overhauling its European operations after strategic missteps including failures to sign up enough dealers and hire executives with local-market knowledge and to offer hybrids in markets resistant to fully electric vehicles, six current and former BYD executives said.
BYD has moved swiftly to address these early stumbles in this critical export market, greatly expanding its dealer network and offering hefty pay packages to poach executives from European carmakers, especially Stellantis, the executives said.
The Chinese EV leader announced in December that plug-in hybrids would be crucial to its European strategy. That decision came after BYD European special adviser Alfredo Altavilla — among the key executives hired in BYD's European reboot — advised BYD founder and chair Wang Chuanfu that a pure EV strategy was still a hard sell in many European countries.
'He was very quick to get the message and give the input to BYD's engineers that every new model would have to come both in EV and hybrid' versions for Europe, Altavilla told Reuters. 'It is necessary to educate customers in the green transition.'
Hires of some individual European executives have been reported, and BYD has publicly acknowledged problems in the German market. This is the first detailed account of the problems identified by executives inside BYD and its systematic efforts to address them. Most of the executives spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive strategic issues.
BYD declined to comment.
In December, Altavilla announced in Italy that plug-in hybrids would be 'at the core of BYD strategy in Europe' moving forward, adding it would be 'stupid' to go against consumer preferences by offering only EVs.
BYD first approached Altavilla, a former Fiat-Chrysler executive, last June and announced his appointment in August. He had been working as a senior adviser to private equity firm CVC Capital Partners.
Altavilla hired several rising-star managers from Stellantis, including Maria Grazia Davino to run Germany and a handful of other central European countries, Alessandro Grosso in Italy and Alberto De Aza in Spain. The Chinese carmaker offered them significant pay increases and a 'chance to grow', a BYD executive said.
'These were not people we were happy to lose,' said a Stellantis source familiar with the work of the executives poached by BYD.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Maverick
an hour ago
- Daily Maverick
Stocks rise, dollar tentative ahead of US-China talks outcome
Investors hold nerve ahead of details from U.S.-China talks Stocks gain, dollar pares some losses JGB yields fall from record highs By Rae Wee and Johann M Cherian SINGAPORE, June 10 (Reuters) – Stocks were buoyant and the dollar remained on guard on Tuesday as trade talks between the United States and China were set to extend to a second day, with tentative signs tensions between the world's two largest economies could be easing. US President Donald Trump put a positive spin on the talks at Lancaster House in London, which wrapped up for the night on Monday and were set to resume at 0900 GMT on Tuesday. 'The fact that we're still up here near record highs, does suggest that we are seeing the market accept what has been said by Trump and when you look at some of the other comments from Lutnick and Bessent, to me it seems to suggest that they are relatively happy with the progress,' said Tony Sycamore, a market analyst at IG. 'But the market always likes to see some concrete announcements.' As Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer were set to meet for the second day with their Chinese counterparts, much of investors' focus has been on the progress of the talks. Any progress in the negotiations is likely to provide relief to markets given Trump's chaotic tariffs and swings in Sino-U.S. trade ties have undermined the world's two biggest economies and hobbled global growth. Stocks advanced in Asia, extending their rise from the start of the week. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan advanced 0.5%, while Nasdaq futures gained 0.62%. S&P 500 futures edged 0.43% higher. EUROSTOXX 50 futures and FTSE futures both added roughly 0.1% each. In Tokyo, attention was also on the Japanese government bond (JGB) market, following news that Japan is considering buying back some super-long government bonds issued in the past at low interest rates. The yield on the 10-year JGB fell one basis point to 1.46% in early trade, while the 30-year yield slid 5 bps to 2.86%. Yields on super-long JGBs rose to levels last month due to dwindling demand from traditional buyers such as life insurers, and jitters over steadily rising debt levels globally. 'The volatility at the super-long segment of the curve stems from a supply-demand imbalance that has been brewing since the BOJ embarked on balance sheet normalisation,' said Justin Heng, APAC rates strategist at HSBC Global Investment Research. Japanese Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato said on Tuesday the government will conduct appropriate debt management policies while communicating closely with market participants. In currencies, the dollar attempted to regain its footing after falling on Monday. Against the yen, the dollar was up 0.45% to 145.25. The euro fell 0.28% to $1.1387 while sterling slipped 0.2% to $1.3523. Trump's erratic trade policies and worries over Washington's growing debt pile have dented investor confidence in US assets, in turn undermining the dollar, which has already fallen more than 8% for the year. The next test for the greenback will be on Wednesday, when US inflation data comes due. Expectations are for core consumer prices to have picked up slightly in May, which could push back against bets of imminent Federal Reserve rate cuts. The producer price index (PPI) report will be released a day later. 'May's US CPI and PPI data will be scrutinised for signs of lingering inflationary pressures,' said Convera's FX and macro strategist Kevin Ford. 'If core CPI remains elevated, expectations for rate cuts could be pushed beyond the June 18 FOMC meeting.' Traders see the Fed keeping rates on hold at its policy meeting next week, but have priced in roughly 44 bps worth of easing by December. In the oil market, prices edged up, with Brent crude futures gaining 0.24% to $67.20 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate crude was last up 0.25% at $65.45 per barrel after hitting a more than two-month high earlier in the session.
TimesLIVE
an hour ago
- TimesLIVE
Iran to present counter-proposal to US in nuclear talks
Iran will soon hand a counter-proposal for a nuclear deal to the US via Oman, Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday, in response to a US offer Tehran deems "unacceptable". Reuters previously reported Tehran was drafting a negative response to the US proposal presented in late May. An Iranian diplomat said the US offer failed to resolve differences over uranium enrichment on Iranian soil, the shipment abroad of Iran's entire stockpile of highly enriched uranium and steps to lift US sanctions. "The US proposal is not acceptable to us. It was not the result of previous rounds of negotiations. We will present our own proposal to the other side via Oman after it is finalised. The proposal is reasonable, logical and balanced," Baghaei said. He said there was not yet any detail regarding the date of a sixth round of nuclear talks between Iran and the US. Last week, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei dismissed the US proposal as against the country's interests, pledging to continue enrichment. During his first term in 2018, US President Donald Trump ditched a 2015 nuclear pact between Iran and six powers and reimposed sanctions that have crippled Iran's economy. Iran responded by escalating enrichment far beyond that pact's limits.
Daily Maverick
7 hours ago
- Daily Maverick
Here is everything Apple announced at its annual developer conference
June 9 (Reuters) – Apple unveiled upgrades to operating systems across its devices on Monday, including overhauled visual elements, a fresh naming system for software updates and new features in its Apple Intelligence suite. At its annual Worldwide Developers Conference, the company also said it would open up the underlying technology it uses for Apple Intelligence to developers. These are some of the key announcements from the event: 'LIQUID GLASS' Apple is rolling out a new 'Liquid Glass' design language across its software, bringing sleek translucence and a glass-like shine to app interfaces. Inspired by visionOS on the Vision Pro augmented reality device, the design adapts to light and dark modes and reacts dynamically to movement using real-time rendering. The new design will be implemented in buttons, sliders, media controls and larger elements such as tab bars and sidebars, along with matching redesigned toolbars and navigation. Apple is releasing updated Application Programming Interfaces so that developers can begin adapting their apps ahead of the new design rollout later this year. OPERATING SYSTEMS This year's major iOS release would have originally been called iOS 19, following the usual sequence after iOS 18. However, Apple is now changing its naming convention: future iOS versions will be numbered based on the year following their release—similar to how car manufacturers name new models. Several parts of the operating systems are getting a major visual overhaul as part of the redesign. The Phone app now includes call screening, allowing it to answer calls or wait on hold for you. The Messages app is also getting updates that include customizable chat backgrounds. Apple also said it would add generative AI to its Xcode coding tools that can help developers write code, test it and resolve errors. The company said it would add other coding models such as ChatGPT to Xcode. APPLE INTELLIGENCE New additions to the operating system include Live Translation, which uses on-device AI models to translate conversations in real time, in text messages, phone calls or FaceTime. Apple Pay is also getting Apple Intelligence integration, enabling it to track orders even for purchases made outside Apple Pay. Meanwhile, Image Playground is getting a boost with a new feature that allows users to generate images with the help of OpenAI's ChatGPT. Apple will now allow developers to tap into its on-device foundational model for their own apps. Through the new Foundation Models framework, developers can build intelligent, privacy-focused experiences that work offline too. VISUAL INTELLIGENCE Apple will also let users learn more about what's on their iPhone screens via Visual Intelligence. Users can search across Google, Etsy and other supported apps to find visually similar images or products. If the tool detects that you're viewing an event, iOS 26 will suggest adding it to your calendar. This feature will be accessible using the same button combination used to take a screenshot on an iPhone.
