BYD Becomes the Automaker with the Most R&D Personnel in the World
During the first China Innovation and Technology Festival hosted by China Central Television, Wang Chuanfu, Founder and Chairman of BYD, revealed that the company now boasts nearly 1 million employees, 11 major research institutes, and 110,000 engineers. This makes BYD the automaker with the most R&D personnel globally. On average, BYD applies for 32 patents per working day, showcasing its commitment to innovation.
Since 2011, BYD has experienced significant growth in its engineering team, expanding from over 20,000 engineers to nearly 110,000. The company added more than 60,000 employees in 2021, bringing the total to over 280,000. By 2022, the workforce doubled to approximately 570,000, and by 2024, BYD expects to have close to one million employees. Notably, the largest increase in staff has been in production and R&D roles. As of the third quarter of 2024, BYD’s cumulative R&D investment has surpassed 160 billion yuan.
Over the past few years, BYD has been actively recruiting fresh college graduates, with more than 50,000 joining the company. This year, nearly 70% of these graduates hold Masters and Doctoral degrees, with almost 80% working in R&D positions. Many of BYD’s senior executives and technical leaders, such as He Zhiqi and Yang Dongsheng, started their careers at the company as fresh graduates.
In the first 11 months of 2024, BYD achieved impressive sales of new energy vehicles, totaling 3.7573 million units, marking a 40.02% increase from the previous year. Additionally, the company’s total power battery installed capacity in November reached 16.87 GWh, contributing to a cumulative installed capacity of 117.54 GWh for 2024.
BYD recently announced that its annual sales for 2024 are projected to reach 4.27 million vehicles, surpassing the initial target of 3.6 million vehicles.
Sources: Wang Chuanfu, Eet China, Autohome
