(Yicai) June 10 -- Chinese automaker BYD aims to become the world’s largest car company within five years, according to Chairman Wang Chuanfu.

BYD expects to top the global car production and sales leaderboard by 2030, driven by both its home market and overseas expansion, Wang said at the Shenzhen-based firm’s annual shareholders' meeting yesterday. A mature technology system is what enables BYD to develop both domestic and international markets at the same time, he said.

BYD recently released its second-generation blade battery and flash-charging technology, which can solve the range and charging pain points for new energy vehicle owners, said Wang, who is also the company’s president. It will launch several more exclusive new technologies in the next two years, he added.

Since ending production of combustion engine cars in 2022, BYD has led the world in NEV sales for four consecutive years. Its global sales rose 8 percent to 4.6 million units last year, ranking fifth overall, with top-ranked Toyota Motor reporting sales of over 10 million for the fifth year in a row.

China’s auto sales dropped in the first quarter after the national purchase tax exemption policy for NEVs was adjusted, Wang said. BYD was also affected, he noted, but as new technologies were released and international oil prices rose, its sales began to gradually recover.

The tax break on buying an NEV was cut to 5 percent from 10 percent on Jan. 1, with a maximum exemption of CNY15,000 (USD2,210) per vehicle. Retail auto sales fell 19 percent to 5.67 million in the first four months of 2026 from a year earlier, compared with a 16 percent decline in the first quarter, according to data released by the China Passenger Car Association on May 11.

BYD sold 700,463 cars in the first quarter, a 30 percent from a year ago, then recovered to 321,123 in April, paring the year-on-year decline to 16 percent, before shipping 383,453 last month, essentially unchanged on the year-earlier period.

As domestic growth slows, BYD is pushing harder abroad, with shipments surging 81 percent to a record 160,177 last month from a year ago. Wang said BYD now has a premium image abroad and expects to top its initial overseas sales target of 1.5 million set earlier this year.

BYD’s overseas growth is underpinned by localized production, Wang said. The firm has a plant in Brazil for South America, its factory in Hungary for Europe is about to start operations, the Thai plant for Southeast Asia is already live, while that in Indonesia is nearing the start of production.

Editor: Martin Kadiev