BYD recalls over 110,000 vehicles, and Wang Chuanfu, worth 145.1 billion, faces new challenges
The "sell - off storm" of BYD by the "stock god" Buffett still lingers, and this new - energy vehicle giant is facing a new test.
On October 17th, the official website of the State Administration for Market Regulation released a recall notice. According to relevant regulations, BYD Auto Industry Co., Ltd. initiated a recall plan for a total of 115,783 vehicles.
Leida Finance learned that this recall was carried out under the defect investigation launched by the State Administration for Market Regulation. It involves two batches of vehicles, including 44,535 units of the 2015 Tang series and 71,248 units of the Yuan Pro pure - electric vehicles.
The aforementioned models have problems in component design selection and production manufacturing respectively, both of which may lead to safety hazards. BYD said it will update and repair the recalled vehicles for free.
In addition to the recall storm, BYD's performance is also facing a phased challenge. According to the semi - annual report for 2025, the company's revenue in the first half of the year reached 371.281 billion yuan, a year - on - year increase of 23.3%. However, in the second quarter, BYD's net profit attributable to the parent company decreased by nearly 30% year - on - year, which is the first quarterly profit decline since 2022.
Despite the pressure on the profit side, BYD's position in the global new - energy vehicle market remains relatively stable. In the second quarter of 2025, BYD ranked first globally with a 22% market share, with sales exceeding 850,000 units.
However, BYD, which ranks at the top in the market, also has "sales anxiety". In September, there were reports that BYD had lowered its 2025 sales target by 16%, from the initially set 5.5 million units to 4.6 million units. Even though the target has been lowered, BYD still needs to bear considerable sales pressure in the fourth quarter to achieve this goal.
From the perspective of the industry environment, the competition in the Chinese automobile market has reached a white - hot stage. Relevant data shows that the overall profit of the Chinese automobile industry in 2024 was 462.3 billion yuan, a year - on - year decrease of 8%. In the first three quarters of 2025, the price cut of new new - energy vehicles reached 10.8%.
In this context, finding a balance between scale expansion and ensuring profitability has become a severe challenge for all automobile manufacturers, including BYD.
"Safety hazards exist": BYD recalls over 110,000 vehicles
On October 17th, the official website of the State Administration for Market Regulation released important news. According to the "Regulations on the Recall of Defective Automobile Products" and the "Measures for the Implementation of the Regulations on the Recall of Defective Automobile Products", BYD Auto Industry Co., Ltd. filed two recall plans with the State Administration for Market Regulation, recalling a total of 115,800 vehicles.
According to the official notice, BYD's recall this time is divided into two batches. The first batch, with the recall number S2025M0165I, involves the 2015 Tang series vehicles produced between March 28, 2015, and July 28, 2017.
Due to problems in component design selection, the active discharge function of the drive motor controller of this batch of vehicles may malfunction during use. In extreme cases, the circuit board may be burned, and the pure - electric drive mode of the vehicle may fail, posing a safety hazard.
The second batch, with the recall number S2025M0166I, involves some Yuan Pro pure - electric vehicles produced between February 6, 2021, and August 5, 2022, a total of 71,248 units.
Due to production manufacturing problems, the power battery sealing gasket of this batch of vehicles may not be installed properly, resulting in a decrease in sealing performance. If the vehicle wades through water at high speed for a long time, the power battery may get wet, the insulation performance may decline. In extreme cases, the output power of the power battery may decrease, posing a safety hazard.
It is worth noting that according to the "Rules for the Recall Numbering of Automobile Products and the Application of Numbers" (GB/T39061 - 2020), the last letter "I" represents a recall affected by an investigation.
The recall notice also mentioned that this BYD recall was carried out under the defect investigation launched by the State Administration for Market Regulation.
BYD said it will authorize dealers to repair the vehicles within the recall scope for free. To eliminate safety hazards, the software of the Tang series vehicles will be updated, and the discharge method will be changed to motor discharge; for the Yuan Pro pure - electric vehicles, special sealant will be used to reinforce the power battery housing to restore the waterproof function.
BYD Auto Industry Co., Ltd. will notify relevant users of this recall through registered letters, phone calls, text messages, etc. via BYD Dynasty authorized dealers.
It is worth mentioning that in addition to BYD, other automobile manufacturers have also issued recall plans this year. At the beginning of this year, Tesla China recalled more than 1.2 million electric vehicles and planned to upgrade the software of the recalled vehicles for free through OTA to solve problems such as abnormal functions of the rear - view camera and software of the electronic power steering system.
In September, Xiaomi Auto Technology Co., Ltd. recalled 116,887 units of some SU7 standard - version electric vehicles produced between February 6, 2024, and August 30, 2025.
It is reported that in some cases when the L2 high - speed pilot assist driving function of some vehicles within the recall scope of Xiaomi is activated, the recognition, early warning, or handling of extreme special scenarios may be insufficient. If the driver does not intervene in time, the risk of collision may increase, posing a safety hazard.
At the 2025 World Intelligent Connected Vehicle Conference held on October 17th, Wang Nailv, the deputy director of the Defective Product Recall Technology Center of the State Administration for Market Regulation, revealed that as of September 2025, China had carried out 3,230 automobile recalls, involving 120 million vehicles. Among them, 652 recalls were affected by the investigations of the State Administration for Market Regulation, involving 63.7886 million vehicles, accounting for 53.18% of the total recalled vehicles.
Some voices believe that BYD's recall reflects the quality control challenges faced by new - energy vehicle manufacturers during the rapid development process. In the short term, large - scale recalls will increase the company's cost pressure. However, in the long run, timely detection and solution of product problems will help the company improve brand reputation and user trust, laying a solid foundation for long - term development.
Profitability faces severe challenges, and the "global sales champion" also has "sales anxiety"
Tianyancha shows that Wang Chuanfu is the actual controller of BYD. In the "2025 New Fortune Magazine 500 Wealth Creation List" announced earlier, Wang Chuanfu's net worth reached 145.14 billion yuan, hitting a new high since he was on this list.
However, this recall occurred at a critical time when BYD's performance was fluctuating.
The semi - annual report shows that in the first half of this year, BYD's operating revenue reached 371.281 billion yuan, a year - on - year increase of 23.3%. Although the revenue maintained a steady growth, the company faced significant pressure on the profit side.
Looking back from 2022 to 2024, the year - on - year growth rates of BYD's net profit attributable to the parent company in the semi - annual reports were 206.35%, 204.68%, and 24.44% respectively, showing a gradual slowdown.
In the first half of this year, BYD's net profit attributable to the parent company was 15.511 billion yuan, and the growth rate of this indicator further slowed down to 13.79%.
Quarterly, in the first quarter, BYD's net profit attributable to the parent company increased by 100.38% year - on - year to 9.155 billion yuan. However, in the second quarter, its net profit attributable to the parent company was only 6.356 billion yuan, a year - on - year decrease of nearly 30%, which is the first quarterly profit decline since 2022.
According to a research report by Morgan Stanley, BYD's performance in the second quarter of 2025 was "significantly lower than market expectations", with a profit of only 6.356 billion yuan, far lower than the market's estimated 10 billion yuan.
The market originally expected BYD's net profit in the first half of the year to reach about 18 billion yuan, but the actual figure was only 15.511 billion yuan.
Some analysts believe that the gap between the expectation and the reality is mainly due to factors such as the intensification of the price war in the automobile industry in the second quarter, the contraction of the company's gross profit margin, and a significant increase in R & D investment.
Despite the pressure of profit decline, BYD's position in the global new - energy vehicle market remains stable. According to a report released by CounterPoint, in the second quarter of 2025, the global new - energy vehicle market increased by 26% year - on - year. BYD ranked first globally with a 22% market share, with sales exceeding 850,000 units, a year - on - year increase of 15%.
In terms of sales ranking, BYD, Geely, and Tesla ranked among the top three in global new - energy vehicle sales with market shares of 22%, 10%, and 8% respectively. BYD's overseas sales in Europe, Southeast Asia, and Latin America were strong, with exports exceeding 250,000 units, accounting for 22% of the total sales.
According to the sales data disclosed by BYD, in the first half of this year, its new - energy vehicle sales reached 2.146 million units, a year - on - year increase of 33.04%. Among them, the overseas market sales exceeded 470,000 units, a year - on - year increase of 130%, exceeding the total sales of last year; the overseas revenue reached 135.358 billion yuan, a year - on - year increase of 50.5%, and the revenue proportion rose to 36.5%, becoming a highlight of the performance.
However, BYD's sales growth was achieved to some extent through significant price cuts and promotions, which undoubtedly squeezed its profitability.
It is worth mentioning that in the first half of the year, BYD received 6.87 billion yuan in government subsidies, accounting for more than 40% of the net profit attributable to the parent company in the current period, which means that BYD still benefits from the government's policy support for the new - energy vehicle industry.
In the third quarter, BYD's sales performance was further under pressure. In July and August this year, BYD's sales growth rate was less than 1%, showing an obvious slowdown.
In addition, in early September, there were reports that BYD had lowered its 2025 sales target by 16%, from the initially set 5.5 million units to 4.6 million units. When the media asked BYD to confirm this news, BYD said it "would not respond".
Subsequently, the production and sales data released by BYD in September showed that the company sold 396,300 vehicles in September, a year - on - year decrease of 5.52%. As of the end of September, the company's cumulative sales were about 3.26 million vehicles.
If calculated based on the annual sales target of 4.6 million vehicles, to achieve this goal, BYD needs to achieve an average monthly sales volume of 446,700 vehicles in the remaining three months of this year.
However, looking back at its performance in the first nine months, BYD's average monthly sales volume was only 362,200 vehicles. It can be seen that BYD still faces considerable sales pressure in the future.
The industry competition is intensifying. How to break through in the "price war"?
Currently, the competition in the Chinese automobile market is becoming increasingly fierce. In 2025, a "price storm" swept across the Chinese automobile market.
According to data released by the China Automobile Dealers Association, from January to September 2025, the average price cut of new new - energy vehicles was 21,000 yuan, with a price - cut intensity of 10.8%.
On October 19th, Cui Dongshu, the secretary - general of the Passenger Car Association, posted an article saying that in September this year, 23 models had price cuts (36 models in the same period last year and 11 models in the same period in 2023), and the market remained relatively stable. In September, the promotion intensity of new - energy vehicles remained at a relatively high level of 10.2%, an increase of 2.6 percentage points compared with the same period and a slight increase of 0.7 percentage points compared with the previous month.
BYD also pointed out in its semi - annual report that this year, the competition in the Chinese automobile industry has reached a white - hot stage, with industry chaos such as "fixed - price sales" and "excessive marketing" emerging. The competition has intensified, greatly disrupting the normal business order and hindering the high - quality development of the industry.
However, it is worth noting that BYD itself is also an important participant in this "price war". In May this year, BYD officially launched a time - limited "fixed - price" or time - limited subsidy promotion campaign, involving a total of 22 intelligent - driving version models of the Dynasty Network and the Ocean Network, with a maximum subsidy of up to 53,000 yuan.
Subsequently, brands such as Geely and Chery followed suit. Geely Galaxy launched a "million - yuan welfare" campaign, with all models enjoying time - limited subsidies. The time - limited subsidy price of the Xingyuan starts from 59,800 yuan. Chery Automobile launched a "10 - billion - yuan factory subsidy" campaign with its four major brands. The starting price of the Ruihu 3X Excellence Edition dropped to 34,900 yuan.
The continuous and intense price competition has brought huge pressure on the profitability of automobile manufacturers. A report released by the Passenger Car Association of the China Automobile Dealers Association pointed out that the profit of the automobile industry in 2024 was 462.3 billion yuan, a year - on - year decrease of 8%. This trend may continue in 2025, and the industry as a whole is facing a severe profit test.
Facing the challenges brought by the further intensification of industry competition, BYD chose to increase R & D investment to build a technological barrier. In the first half of 2025, BYD's R & D investment reached 30.88 billion yuan, a year - on - year increase of 53.05%, with the growth rate significantly exceeding that of the operating revenue and net profit attributable to the parent company in the same period, accounting for 8.3% of the operating revenue in the same period.
This R & D investment is mainly concentrated in areas such as vehicle electrification, intelligence, and new - model development. For example, BYD has lowered the threshold of high - level intelligent driving to the 70,000 - yuan level through full - stack self - research.
Some analysts believe that the "price war" in the new - energy vehicle industry is a double - edged sword. In the short term, it allows consumers to enjoy real benefits and promotes the rapid popularization of technology. However, in the long run, it will lead to a continuous decline in industry profits and may also breed quality hazards due to cost reduction. In essence, this is the pain of industry transformation. Enterprises need to find a balance between survival and innovation, avoid the vicious cycle of "trading price for volume", and explore a sustainable development path through technological breakthroughs and value competition.