SWOT Analysis of BYD 2026: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats

This is a SWOT analysis of BYD Company Limited, written in September 2026 as an MBA strategy sample on the company's own filings for the year ended 31 December 2025: the 2025 Annual Report of 27 March 2026 on the Hong Kong exchange and the monthly production and sales announcements. Where the 2026 First Quarterly Report or the 2026 Interim Report of 28 August 2026 has overtaken a point, the 2026 position is given beside it. Figures are in renminbi as the filings give them and are for 2025 unless another period is named.

A quadrant bullet is a dated figure with a source, not an adjective, and the recommendations at the end come from pairs of quadrants.

BYD's 2025 is worth the exercise because the headline and the accounts disagree. It sold a record 4,602,436 vehicles, exported more than a million and booked record revenue (BYD, 2026a). In the same year its profit fell by nearly a fifth, its operating cash inflow more than halved and its balance sheet went from net cash to net debt. Then BYD's sales shrank at home and grew abroad. The SWOTs ranking for this query give these figures without a source, or not at all.

What Does BYD Sell, and How Big Was It in 2025?

BYD sells new energy vehicles and the batteries inside them, energy storage systems, and electronics assembled for other manufacturers. In 2025 revenue was RMB 803,965 million, up 3.46 percent. Automobiles and related products brought in RMB 648,646 million, 80.68 percent of the total; mobile handset components, assembly and other products RMB 155,237 million, 19.31 percent (BYD, 2026a).

BYD revenue by location of customers, 2024 and 2025

Chart data

Item	Value (bn RMB)
PRC customers, 2024	555.2 bn RMB
PRC customers, 2025	493.2 bn RMB
Overseas customers, 2024	221.9 bn RMB
Overseas customers, 2025	310.7 bn RMB

The volume behind that revenue was 4,602,436 new energy vehicles sold, up 7.73 percent: 2,256,714 battery-electric passenger cars, up 27.86 percent; 2,288,709 plug-in hybrids, down 7.91 percent; and 57,013 commercial vehicles (BYD, 2026d).

Where the customers are is the point to take from this section. Revenue from customers in the PRC fell from RMB 555,218 million to RMB 493,224 million, while revenue from overseas customers rose from RMB 221,885 million to RMB 310,741 million: 38.65 percent of the total, against 28.55 percent in 2024 (BYD, 2026a). All of the growth in 2025 came from outside China. In the first half of 2026 the overseas line was RMB 181,268 million and the PRC line RMB 163,547 million, so overseas customers were 52.57 percent of revenue on our division of the interim report's figures, and the handset segment was renamed "electronics and other products" (BYD, 2026b).

Read more MBA assignment samples, or see how we approach an MBA assignment. The growth directions, the resource-based view and the competitor set are in our BYD marketing strategy analysis; this post does not repeat them.

What Does a SWOT Analysis of BYD Show in 2026?

It shows a volume leader whose profit fell as sales rose. The strengths are volume, exports, storage and cash. The weaknesses are a falling margin, net debt and halved cash inflow. The opportunities are local plants, storage demand and premium pricing abroad. The threats are the EU duty, price wars and a halved tax break (BYD, 2026a).

BYD SWOT analysis, FY2025 figures and H1 2026 filings

Helpful Harmful Internal

Strengths Internal, helpful

• 4,602,436 NEVs sold in 2025, up 7.73 percent; best-selling NEV brand for a fourth year
• 2,256,714 battery-electric cars against Tesla's 1,636,129 deliveries
• Exports past one million, up 140 percent; overseas 38.65 percent of revenue, 52.57 percent by June 2026
• 2nd Generation Blade Battery and FLASH Charging launched March 2026; integration on the company's own account
• R&D expenses RMB 57,978 million, 7.2 percent of revenue
• Energy storage shipments over 60 GWh, first among global suppliers on the company's ranking
• Premium brands near 400,000 units in 2025; 12.8 percent of passenger sales in H1 2026
• Cash reserves RMB 167.8 billion on the company's definition; cash and cash equivalents RMB 68,395 million
• Assisted-driving models past 2.56 million at end-2025, over 160 million km of driving data a day

Weaknesses Internal, harmful

• Profit attributable down 18.97 percent to RMB 32,619 million; net margin 5.2 to 4.1 percent
• Gross margin 19.44 to 17.74 percent, the first fall since 2021
• Q1 2026 profit down 55.38 percent; H1 2026 down 20.54 percent
• Borrowings RMB 28,584 million to 113,435 million as plant spending of 156,808 million outran operating inflow; gearing minus 36 to plus 25 percent
• Operating cash inflow RMB 59,136 million from 133,454 million; inventory 61 to 72 days
• Domestic sales down about a third, January to August 2026, in a NEV market up 7.3 percent; retail share 27.2 to 21.4 percent
• 2nd Generation Blade Battery capacity short; faster deliveries across all model series tied to new capacity
• Plug-in hybrid sales down 7.91 percent in 2025 and 11.22 percent in 2026 to August

External

Opportunities External, helpful

• Duties fall on imports: Brazil plant at 150,000 with plans for 600,000; Hungary reported for Q4 2026, no date in a BYD filing
• EU price-undertaking route: first acceptance on 10 February 2026, with a price floor, volume limit and EU investment
• Storage demand the interim calls high; 18.6 GWh of storage projects and contracts named for H1 2026
• Europe's NEV market growing (ACEA, as the annual report cites it); Denza launched in Europe, April 2026
• Charging improvement easing range anxiety, the interim's outlook; 20,000 flash-charging stations planned by end-2026
• AI computing infrastructure industry growing; electronics up 0.96 percent in H1 2026, the only segment to grow
• High fuel prices widening the NEV gap, the interim's reading; a dual-drive range to meet it

Threats External, harmful

• EU countervailing duty of 17.0 percent from 30 October 2024, for five years
• Persistent price wars at home, in the company's words; purchase-tax exemption halved from 1 January 2026
• Tesla led Q1 2026 battery-electric volume, 358,023 to 310,389; BYD led H1, 867,479 to 838,149
• Raw-material prices and geopolitics, the company's outlook; US DoD Chinese Military Companies list, 8 June 2026
• Level 2 assisted driving on 70.5 percent of new passenger cars in China in 2026, MIIT data the interim cites
• Foreign exchange losses named as a cause of the H1 2026 profit fall, not sized
• Shipping cycles: eight Ro-Ro vessels as the stated mitigation

The first half of 2026 sharpened every quadrant. Revenue fell 7.13 percent and profit attributable 20.54 percent, domestic demand faced what the interim report calls "temporary challenges" in the first quarter, exports rose 67.8 percent, and overseas customers became more than half of revenue for the first time (BYD, 2026b).

Notice that two quadrants can describe the same event from different sides. Falling domestic sales are a weakness because they are BYD's own result; the halving of the purchase-tax exemption that helped sell those cars is a threat because it was decided in Beijing, not in Shenzhen. The same test puts the 2nd Generation Blade Battery shortage under weaknesses: the capacity is BYD's to build, so the shortage is internal. Keeping that line clean is most of the skill in a SWOT.

What Are BYD's Strengths?

BYD's strengths in 2025 are scale, exports and the money to keep spending. It sold 4,602,436 new energy vehicles, exported more than a million, shipped over 60 GWh of energy storage, spent RMB 57,978 million on research and development and ended the year with cash reserves of RMB 167.8 billion on its own definition (BYD, 2026a; 2026d).

1. Volume leadership. BYD sold 4,602,436 new energy vehicles in 2025, 7.73 percent more than in 2024 (BYD, 2026d), and its annual report records a fourth consecutive year as the world's best-selling NEV brand and fifth place among global automotive groups (BYD, 2026a). Scale sets the cost base for China's price war; the weaknesses show what holding it cost in margin.
2. The battery-electric lead over Tesla. Battery-electric passenger sales were 2,256,714, up 27.86 percent (BYD, 2026d), against Tesla's 1,636,129 deliveries (Tesla, 2026), the first year BYD led (Zhang, 2026a). The lead narrowed in the first half of 2026, 867,479 to 838,149 (Zhang, 2026b). Tesla's side is in our SWOT analysis of Tesla.
3. Overseas growth that carries the margin. Overseas revenue rose from RMB 221,885 million to RMB 310,741 million (BYD, 2026a) and was 52.57 percent of the total by June 2026, when the interim report credited the gross margin rise to 18.85 percent "mainly" to overseas NEV business and, citing JATO, named BYD the top NEV brand in the UK, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Thailand and Indonesia (BYD, 2026b). No filing publishes an overseas margin; the profitability claim is the company's.
4. Vertical integration, on the company's own account. The interim report says the group "adheres to vertical integration", and in March 2026 it launched the 2nd Generation Blade Battery and FLASH Charging (BYD, 2026b). No filing publishes a cost comparison; treat the advantage as a claim. The resource-based view is in our BYD marketing strategy analysis; the battery shortage under weaknesses shows the same integration becoming a constraint.
5. R&D at scale. Research and development expenses were RMB 57,978 million in 2025, from RMB 53,195 million, or 7.2 percent of revenue on our division (BYD, 2026a). The management discussion quotes a wider "R&D investment" of RMB 63.4 billion, and RMB 28.9 billion for the first half of 2026 (BYD, 2026b). Say which measure you are quoting; mixing them loses the credit for both.
6. Energy storage. Storage shipments "exceeded 60GWh in 2025, ranking first among the global energy storage system suppliers", on the company's own ranking (BYD, 2026a). In the first half of 2026 it signed 11.275 GWh with Masdar and 2.6 GWh with Grenergy, helped commission 3.5 GWh in Chile and won a 1.2 GWh CGN framework (BYD, 2026b). Storage does not depend on car showrooms.
7. Premium brands that lift the mix. Combined sales of Yangwang, Denza and Fangchengbao "approached 400,000 units" in 2025 (BYD, 2026a) and rose 61.0 percent in the first half of 2026 to 12.8 percent of passenger sales (BYD, 2026b). Every point of mix that moves up offsets some of the price war below it.
8. Liquidity, on a definition you must state. "Cash reserves" were RMB 167.8 billion at end-2025 and 167.4 billion at 30 June 2026, a measure both reports define as monetary funds plus financial assets held for trading (BYD, 2026a; 2026b); cash and cash equivalents were RMB 68,395 million. Neither covers a year of investment at the 2025 rate: cash paid for fixed and other long-term assets was RMB 156,808 million, from 97,360 million (BYD, 2026a).
9. Intelligent driving at scale. The annual report says assisted-driving models "reached over 2.56 million units" by the end of 2025, "generating over 160 million kilometers of assisted driving data daily" under its "God's Eye" system (BYD, 2026a). Data at that scale trains the next version; whether the product beats a rival's is a claim no filing tests, and threat 5 below shows the feature becoming standard.

What Are BYD's Weaknesses?

Most of the weaknesses sit in the accounts. Profit attributable fell 18.97 percent to RMB 32,619 million on rising revenue, gross margin fell from 19.44 to 17.74 percent, operating cash inflow fell to RMB 59,136 million from 133,454 million, and borrowings rose from RMB 28,584 million to 113,435 million (BYD, 2026a).

BYD gross profit margin and net profit margin, FY2021 to FY2025

Chart data

Point (%)	Gross profit margin	Net profit margin
FY2021	12%	1.4%
FY2022	16%	3.9%
FY2023	19%	5%
FY2024	19%	5.2%
FY2025	18%	4.1%

1. Profit fell while sales rose. Profit attributable to owners of the parent was RMB 32,619 million, down 18.97 percent, and net margin fell from 5.2 to 4.1 percent on revenue that grew 3.46 percent. The company's stated reason is "the change of product structure, which led to the decline in gross profit margin" (BYD, 2026a). The 2025 record is a volume record; each vehicle earned less.
2. The first fall in gross margin since 2021. Gross profit fell 5.56 percent to RMB 142,660 million and gross margin from 19.44 to 17.74 percent (BYD, 2026a); the five-year series below rises from 2021 and turns down in 2025. The first half of 2026 recovered to 18.85 percent on overseas mix (BYD, 2026b), so the margin now depends on the export share holding.
3. Early 2026 got worse before it got better. First-quarter revenue fell 11.82 percent and net profit attributable 55.38 percent (BYD, 2026c). The half year closed with revenue down 7.13 percent and profit down 20.54 percent, "mainly attributable to the decrease in the new energy vehicle business and foreign exchange losses" (BYD, 2026b).
4. From net cash to net debt in one year. Borrowings rose from RMB 28,584 million to 113,435 million and gearing from minus 36 to plus 25 percent, because cash paid for fixed and other long-term assets, RMB 156,808 million, exceeded operating inflow of 59,136 million by about RMB 97.7 billion, our subtraction (BYD, 2026a). By 30 June 2026 the figures were RMB 120,055 million and 31 percent (BYD, 2026b), on the interim's definition of net debt as debt capital less monetary funds, which the annual report's notes also use for the 25 percent: like for like, and still rising.
5. Operating cash inflow more than halved. Net cash from operations was RMB 59,136 million against RMB 133,454 million in 2024, "mainly attributable to the increase in the cash paid for purchase of goods and receipt of services", and inventory turnover lengthened from 61 to 72 days on "prolonged shipping cycles" (BYD, 2026a). Exports earn margin and tie cash up at sea.
6. Home sales falling in a growing market. Sales from January to August 2026 were 2,668,015, down 6.84 percent (BYD, 2026f); with exports of about 1.16 million (our sum from the filings; BYD, 2026b; 2026e; 2026f), domestic sales were about 1.51 million, a fall CnEVPost puts at 32.72 percent (Zhang, 2026c). The market grew: China's NEV sales rose 7.3 percent in the first half on CAAM figures the interim cites (BYD, 2026b), while BYD's share of NEV retail sales went from 34.1 percent in 2024 to 27.2 percent in 2025 and 21.4 percent for January to July 2026 on CPCA rankings (Zhang, 2026d; 2026e). The volume went to rivals.
7. A battery shortage of BYD's own making. The interim report's outlook says that, as capacity for the 2nd Generation Blade Battery grows, the company "will further accelerate delivery schedules of orders under all its series of models, effectively alleviating the supply shortage situation" (BYD, 2026b). Orders exist; the constraint is capacity BYD builds itself, which makes this internal, and a weakness rather than a threat.
8. The plug-in hybrid line is falling. Plug-in hybrid passenger sales fell 7.91 percent to 2,288,709 in 2025 while battery-electric rose 27.86 percent (BYD, 2026d); from January to August 2026 plug-in hybrids fell 11.22 percent and battery-electric 3.14 percent (BYD, 2026f). The "dual-drive strategy of pure electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles" the interim report describes (BYD, 2026b) is running on one drive at home.

The five-year figures below have one source (BYD, 2026a). The gross margin column is our division of gross profit by revenue, which reproduces the report's 19.44 and 17.74 percent for 2024 and 2025; the net margin column is the report's own.

What Opportunities Does BYD Have?

The opportunities are conditions outside BYD that its own moves can meet: duties that spare local production, a price-undertaking route one carmaker has used, storage demand, a growing European NEV market, better charging, AI computing and fuel prices (BYD, 2026a; 2026b; European Commission, 2026b). Our PESTEL analysis guide sets out where the policy argument goes; for BYD, it is made in our PESTEL analysis of BYD.

1. Duties fall on imports, not on local production. In Europe the condition is the five-year EU duty, and Hungary is the answer in progress. Brazil shows the model already working: 150,000 capacity, plans for 600,000, and stamping, welding and painting from the second half of 2026 (BYD, 2026h). Hungary is "progressing steadily" with no date in any filing (BYD, 2026a); trade reports of June 2026 say the fourth quarter (Hungary Today, 2026; just-auto, 2026).
2. The EU price-undertaking route. On 10 February 2026 the Commission accepted the first undertaking under the battery-electric duties, from Volkswagen (Anhui) and SEAT for the CUPRA Tavascan (European Commission, 2026a; 2026b): a minimum import price, a limit on import volumes and EU investment "with clearly defined milestones". BYD's 17.0 percent duty stands; whether an offer built around its Hungarian plant would be accepted is the Commission's call.
3. Storage demand. The interim report says the global storage industry "maintains a high prosperity level", driven by "energy transition, energy security and AI computing infrastructure development" (BYD, 2026b). The four projects and contracts it names for the first half of 2026 add up to 18.6 GWh on our sum. A second market, priced in gigawatt-hours, is open to the same batteries.
4. A European NEV market that is growing. Citing the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association, the annual report says BYD's 2025 registrations in Europe rose 268.6 percent, "significantly outpacing the regional NEV market growth rate" (BYD, 2026a); Denza followed with a European launch in France in April 2026 (BYD, 2026b). Premium pricing has more room in a growing market than in a price war.
5. Charging that eases range anxiety. The interim's outlook says that "as charging infrastructure continues to improve, consumer range anxiety will be further alleviated" (BYD, 2026b). BYD plans 20,000 flash-charging stations in China by the end of 2026, had 7,018 at the end of June, and plans 6,000 overseas (BYD, 2026b). A charging network sells the battery it was built for.
6. AI computing infrastructure. The interim report calls "the rapid growth of the AI computing infrastructure industry" a strategic opportunity for its electronics segment (BYD, 2026b). The segment renamed "electronics and other products" grew 0.96 percent in the first half of 2026, the only reportable segment to grow (BYD, 2026b). Small beside cars, and outside the price war.
7. Fuel prices widening the NEV gap. The interim report reads "elevated fuel prices driven by geopolitical tensions in the Middle East" as widening "the performance gap" between NEVs and combustion cars (BYD, 2026b). That is demand BYD did not create; its "dual-drive" range meets both ends of it; our BYD marketing strategy analysis covers the export mix.

What Threats Does BYD Face in 2026?

The threats are dated below: a 17.0 percent EU duty (European Commission, 2024), "persistent price wars" and a halved purchase-tax break (BYD, 2026a; China Briefing, 2023), Tesla's 2026 rebound (Zhang, 2026b), raw materials and geopolitics with a US defence listing (BYD, 2026a; 2026g), assisted driving becoming standard, exchange losses and shipping (BYD, 2026b). Our PESTEL analysis of BYD argues the policy side of these threats.

1. The EU countervailing duty. BYD's rate is 17.0 percent, applicable from 30 October 2024 "for a period of five years" (European Commission, 2024). The duty outlives the Szeged plant's reported start date, which is why the plants matter more than the undertaking route.
2. Price wars and a halved tax break at home. The annual report's outlook names "persistent price wars and a highly competitive environment" that "are squeezing automakers' profit margins" (BYD, 2026a), and the purchase-tax exemption on new energy vehicles was halved from 1 January 2026, capped at RMB 15,000 a vehicle, under a 2023 notice from three ministries (China Briefing, 2023). The home-sales weakness is what followed.
3. Tesla's 2026 rebound. Tesla delivered 358,023 vehicles in the first quarter of 2026 against BYD's 310,389 battery-electric sales; BYD retook the lead in the second quarter, 557,090 to 480,126, but its volume fell 8.22 percent year on year while Tesla's rose 25 percent (Zhang, 2026b). The lead is one quarter wide. Our SWOT analysis of Tesla gives Tesla's side.
4. Raw materials and geopolitics, in the company's words. The same outlook says "volatility in key raw material prices and the stable supply of core components present new challenges, while geopolitical tensions could heighten overseas trade barriers, hindering export expansion" (BYD, 2026a). The clause has a date: on 8 June 2026 (US time) the US Department of Defense listed BYD as a Chinese Military Company, which the company's 9 June announcement calls "not a sanctions list" that "will not affect the normal business operations of the Group" (BYD, 2026g). The warning now carries an example. Our PESTEL analysis of BYD sets the listing beside the US tariffs.
5. Assisted driving becoming standard. The interim report cites Ministry of Industry and Information Technology data that Level 2 combined driving assistance was fitted to 70.5 percent of the passenger cars sold in China in 2026 to the date of the report, and navigate-on-autopilot to 34.2 percent (BYD, 2026b). A feature every rival fits stops being a reason to choose BYD; the data lead in the last strength has to show as a better product, and no filing measures that.
6. Currency. The interim report attributes part of the first-half profit fall to "foreign exchange losses from changes in foreign exchange rates" without sizing them (BYD, 2026b); the annual report says income and expenditure are mostly "settled in RMB and US dollars", hedged with forward contracts (BYD, 2026a). With overseas customers now more than half of revenue, a stronger renminbi lowers reported profit before a single car sells worse.
7. Shipping and trade routes. The interim report lists its eight roll-on/roll-off vessels as strengthening supply "amid the complex external environment" (BYD, 2026b), and inventory days had already lengthened to 72 on "prolonged shipping cycles" (BYD, 2026a). The fleet is the mitigation the company names; the sea route is the exposure.

What Does This SWOT Mean for BYD's Strategy?

The cash bill of the capacity build matters most: it joins net debt (weakness 4), halved cash inflow (weakness 5) and the Blade Battery shortage (weakness 7) to the plants (opportunity 1). BYD should run 2026 on overseas margin and storage, fund Blade capacity and the tariff-wall plants, and report profit by geography (BYD, 2026a; 2026b).

BYD operating cash inflow against cash paid for plants and other long-term assets, FY2024 to H1 2026

Chart data

Item	Value (bn RMB)
Operating inflow, FY2024	133.5 bn RMB
Long-term assets paid for, FY2024	97.4 bn RMB
Operating inflow, FY2025	59.1 bn RMB
Long-term assets paid for, FY2025	156.8 bn RMB
Operating inflow, H1 2025	31.8 bn RMB
Long-term assets paid for, H1 2025	80.5 bn RMB
Operating inflow, H1 2026	37.3 bn RMB
Long-term assets paid for, H1 2026	44.7 bn RMB

Each recommendation pairs quadrants, the TOWS step. Overseas growth (strength 3) meets local production (opportunity 1) and the duty (threat 1), so the plants come first: in the half year revenue from overseas customers rose 33.9 percent on our division, to RMB 181,268 million, while revenue from the PRC fell 30.7 percent, and the one headline ratio that improved, gross margin, improved because of the export mix (BYD, 2026b). Storage (strength 6) meets its own demand (opportunity 3) outside the price war, so it ranks with the plants.

Liquidity (strength 8) meets net debt (weakness 4), and the pairing sets the test. Cash reserves of RMB 167.4 billion on the company's definition stood against borrowings of RMB 120,055 million at 30 June 2026, of which RMB 43,860 million falls due within a year, with gearing at 31 percent (BYD, 2026b). What changed in 2026 is the spending. Cash paid for fixed and other long-term assets fell from RMB 80,525 million in the first half of 2025 to RMB 44,703 million, down 44.5 percent on our division, while operating inflow rose to RMB 37,335 million, so the gap narrowed from about RMB 48.7 billion in the first half of 2025 to about RMB 7.4 billion, our subtractions (BYD, 2026a; 2026b). The chart above shows it. The question is no longer whether to borrow but where the smaller budget goes; a student who writes "BYD has strong cash reserves" and stops has missed the debt and the cut in the same filing.

Vertical integration (strength 4) meets the battery shortage (weakness 7), and that is where the budget should go. The interim report's outlook ties faster deliveries to more 2nd Generation Blade Battery capacity (BYD, 2026b); the share figures in weakness 6 say capacity is not the whole problem, because rivals took the sales the shortage lost in a market that grew. BYD cut investment by almost half in the six months that ended with its outlook saying orders wait on capacity, and the filings do not say why; that is the tension to write about. Blade capacity and the tariff-wall plants come before anything else, with home volume targets set to what can be delivered.

Reporting is the fourth recommendation because the first cannot be tested. BYD reports revenue by location of customers but not profit; it credits the margin rise "mainly" to overseas NEVs and the overseas business with "outstanding profitability", yet publishes no overseas margin, and it names foreign exchange losses without sizing them (BYD, 2026a; 2026b). Profit by geography would let the strategy be judged on numbers rather than adjectives.

The trade-off has to be admitted. Exports cannot yet replace the home market: total sales for January to August 2026 were 195,861 vehicles lower than a year earlier (BYD, 2026f) even though overseas sales rose by about 536,000 on CnEVPost's compilation, our subtraction from its two figures (Zhang, 2026c). Until domestic volume stops falling, the overseas strategy protects margin, not size. For the same tension seen from the incumbent's side, read our SWOT analysis of Toyota; more strategy samples are in our business assignment samples.

How Do You Write a SWOT Analysis of BYD for Your Own Assignment?

Start at the Hong Kong exchange, not at a published SWOT. Take the internal quadrants from the three financial statements and the external ones from the outlook and regulators, put a dated figure and a link in every bullet, keep the filing's currency, and write down what the filings do not say. The limits are part of the analysis.

1. Get the filings. BYD is stock code 01211 on HKEXnews; the annual results announcement contains the full annual report, the interim results announcement the interim report, and monthly production and sales announcements arrive in the first days of each month. Our guide to reading an annual report for a case study shows how to cite a filing.
2. Fill the internal quadrants from three statements. Revenue by product and by location of customers, gross margin and the company's reason, profit attributable, operating cash inflow against cash paid for long-term assets, borrowings and their maturity, gearing and its definition, turnover days.
3. Fill the external quadrants from the outlook and from regulators. The industry review and outlook in the management discussion are the company's own list of what it does not control; quote them. Add the regulator's page for any duty, tax or listing, with its date.
4. Test every bullet against the internal and external rule. BYD's own sentences make the exercise: "supply shortage" is internal, "price wars" external, and "exports up 140 percent" is both, a result the company achieved (internal) in demand it did not create (external). Split it.
5. Keep the filing's currency and units. Renminbi stays renminbi, as the filing prints it, never a dollar conversion at a rate you chose. Where you divide or add, say so ("our division"), as this sample does for the 52.57 percent overseas share.
6. Check for later filings before you submit. A company that files monthly overtakes an annual report quickly; list what you checked and the date, as the Sources section below does.
7. State the limits. Here they are: no operating profit by geography, no overseas margin, no date for the Hungarian plant in any BYD filing, and no size on the foreign exchange loss. Writing that down is analysis; guessing is not.

What a Marker Grades in This SWOT

• A figure and a year in every bullet, linked to the filing it came from. "Strong brand" earns nothing; "premium brands approached 400,000 units in 2025" earns the mark.
• Internal kept out of the external quadrants. The Blade Battery shortage is the test case; putting it under threats shows the test was not applied.
• Recommendations that name their quadrants. "Blade capacity first" is credited because it says which strength meets which weakness.
• A ranked answer: which factor matters most, and why. Pairing quadrants, the TOWS step, is how you get there.

This sample references in Harvard with the access date, because filings are updated and a reader must find the version you used; use the style your module names.

Need a SWOT analysis or strategy case study on BYD or another company? Message us on WhatsApp with the company, the frameworks your brief names, the word count and the deadline.

Sources

• BYD Company Limited (2026a) 2025 Annual Report. Published on HKEXnews on 27 March 2026, also contained in the 2025 Annual Results Announcement of the same date. HKEXnews (PDF) (accessed 26 September 2026). Source for the five-year comparison, revenue by product and by location of customers, gross margin and its reason, operating cash inflow, cash paid for fixed and other long-term assets, borrowings, gearing and its two definitions, cash and cash equivalents, R&D expenses, cash reserves, the chairman's statement, the assisted-driving figures, the European registrations sentence, plant status, storage shipments, the outlook wording and the foreign exchange policy.
• BYD Company Limited (2026b) 2026 Interim Results Announcement, containing the 2026 Interim Report. Published on HKEXnews on 28 August 2026. HKEXnews (PDF) (accessed 26 September 2026). Source for the first-half revenue, profit and their reasons, gross margin, segment and geographical revenue, operating cash inflow, cash paid for long-term assets, borrowings and their maturity, gearing and its definition, exports, premium brand sales, the Blade Battery and FLASH Charging launch and station counts, storage projects and contracts, JATO positions, the Denza launch, the vessels, the industry review's CAAM and MIIT figures, the storage-industry and AI-computing sentences, and the outlook's charging and supply-shortage sentences.
• BYD Company Limited (2026c) 2026 First Quarterly Report. Published on HKEXnews on 28 April 2026, unaudited. HKEXnews (PDF) (accessed 26 September 2026). Source for first-quarter revenue and net profit attributable.
• BYD Company Limited (2026d) Voluntary Announcement: Production and Sales Volume for December 2025. 1 January 2026, unaudited. HKEXnews (PDF) (accessed 26 September 2026). Source for the 2025 totals and the battery-electric, plug-in hybrid and commercial split.
• BYD Company Limited (2026e) Voluntary Announcement: Production and Sales Volume for July 2026. 2 August 2026, unaudited. HKEXnews (PDF) (accessed 26 September 2026). Source for July sales and exports.
• BYD Company Limited (2026f) Voluntary Announcement: Production and Sales Volume for August 2026. 1 September 2026, unaudited. HKEXnews (PDF) (accessed 26 September 2026). Source for August sales, the January to August totals and split, and August exports.
• BYD Company Limited (2026g) Voluntary Announcement on the company's inclusion in the US Department of Defense list of Chinese Military Companies. 9 June 2026. HKEXnews (PDF) (accessed 26 September 2026). Source for the listing date of 8 June 2026 (US time) and the company's statement on its effect.
• BYD Company Limited (2026h) 100,000 Vehicles, 5,500 Dreams in the Making: BYD Celebrates Historic Milestones in Camaçari. Company release, 16 July 2026. byd.com (accessed 26 September 2026). Source for the Brazil plant's capacity, expansion plan and the second-half 2026 stamping, welding and painting facilities.
• European Commission (2024) EU Commission imposes countervailing duties on imports of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) from China. Access2Markets, 12 December 2024. trade.ec.europa.eu (accessed 26 September 2026). Source for the BYD Group rate, the application date and the five-year term.
• European Commission (2026a) Commission issues guidance document on the submission of price undertaking offers for battery electric vehicles. Directorate-General for Trade and Economic Security, 12 January 2026. policy.trade.ec.europa.eu (accessed 26 September 2026).
• European Commission (2026b) Commission accepts price undertaking from Chinese electric car producer. Directorate-General for Trade and Economic Security, 10 February 2026. policy.trade.ec.europa.eu (accessed 26 September 2026). Source for the Volkswagen (Anhui) and SEAT undertaking for the CUPRA Tavascan and its terms; the page does not mention BYD.
• Tesla, Inc. (2026) Tesla Fourth Quarter 2025 Production, Deliveries and Deployments. Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.1, 2 January 2026. SEC EDGAR (accessed 26 September 2026). Source for Tesla's 2025 deliveries of 1,636,129.
• Zhang, P. (2026a) Tesla loses BEV crown to BYD in 2025 as global deliveries drop 15.61% in Q4. CnEVPost, 2 January 2026. cnevpost.com (accessed 26 September 2026). Secondary source, compiled from company reports, for 2025 being the first year BYD's battery-electric volume exceeded Tesla's.
• Zhang, P. (2026b) BYD's BEV sales beat Tesla again in Q2 despite US EV maker's strong rebound. CnEVPost, 2 July 2026. cnevpost.com (accessed 26 September 2026). Secondary source for the quarterly and half-year battery-electric volumes of BYD and Tesla in 2026.
• Zhang, P. (2026c) BYD August sales rise 17.8% to 440,293 as overseas sales hit new record. CnEVPost, 1 September 2026. cnevpost.com (accessed 26 September 2026). Secondary source, compiled from company reports, for the January to August 2026 overseas and domestic totals and their year-on-year changes.
• Zhang, P. (2026d) Automakers' share in China NEV market in 2025: BYD leads with 27.2%, Tesla 5th with 4.9%. CnEVPost, 12 January 2026. cnevpost.com (accessed 26 September 2026). Secondary source, reporting China Passenger Car Association rankings, for BYD's 27.2 percent share of NEV retail sales in 2025 and 34.1 percent in 2024.
• Zhang, P. (2026e) Automakers' share of China's NEV market in July: BYD leads with 23.5%, Tesla falls out of top 10. CnEVPost, 13 August 2026. cnevpost.com (accessed 26 September 2026). Secondary source, reporting China Passenger Car Association rankings, for BYD's 21.4 percent share of NEV retail sales for January to July 2026.
• China Briefing (2023) China extends NEV tax reduction and exemption policy to 2027. Dezan Shira and Associates, 28 June 2023. china-briefing.com (accessed 26 September 2026). Secondary source for the purchase-tax exemption schedule and caps announced by the Ministry of Finance, the State Taxation Administration and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
• Hungary Today (2026) BYD revises schedule for Szeged plant. 11 June 2026, citing Világgazdaság. hungarytoday.hu (accessed 26 September 2026). Secondary source for the reported fourth-quarter 2026 production start.
• just-auto (2026) BYD sets Hungary production for fourth quarter of 2026 (headline ends "report"). 10 June 2026. just-auto.com (accessed 26 September 2026). Secondary source for the same reported start date.

Filings checked for currency on 26 September 2026: every BYD Company Limited filing on HKEXnews after the 2026 Interim Results Announcement of 28 August 2026, namely the August 2026 production and sales announcement of 1 September 2026 (used above) and the notice and circular of 7 September 2026 for the extraordinary general meeting of 29 September 2026 on articles, directors, asset pooling and guarantees, which change no figure here. The next filings due are the September volume announcement, expected about 1 October 2026, and the third quarterly report, expected in late October 2026; the first overtakes every "January to August" figure above and the second the "first half of 2026" sentences.