Alberto de Aza reveals the keys to BYD in Spain and Portugal

A leadership that also extends to the 100% electric vehicle market, where in November it recorded 2,010 registrations and a share of 21.5%, a figure that represents an increase of 392.6% compared to the same month of the previous year.

By 2026, BYD aims to sell seventy thousand units in Spain and be among the best-selling brands in Spain. In this growth and in these objectives, the figure of the dealer plays a very important role: in December 2024 there were barely more than twenty dealers and a year later it was close to a hundred. While we hear certain brands focusing on other sales formulas to the detriment of concessions, this bet by the Asian giant is undoubtedly a warning signal.

We discussed this and other topics with Alberto de Aza, BYD General Manager for Spain and Portugal, on the occasion of the inauguration of the BYD Valladolid dealership, Hidamocion, of the Drivelia group.

The CEO of the Chinese multinational in Spain told us some of the keys to the brand, from its democratizing approach to new technologies to its commitment, against certain trends, to dealerships as a framework for direct and personal relationships with their customers, to the electrification of mobility in rural areas.

– In this important step of BYD to build dreams, Build Your Dreams, there are no longer many dreams, they are realities. But what a difference with BYD.

– Well, I think BYD brings a completely different concept and also a concept that the general public was missing. I remember that before the pandemic the prices of general brands were general. And we’ve seen that those pre-pandemic prices through 2024 have increased by 70%. So, these generalist brands have ceased to be generalist and if we also add the additional cost of electrification, of electrification, of the step towards electrification, it was absolutely not generalist, it was for a few. I believe what BYD brought was this accessibility, this democratization of technology and electrification to the general public, which was a space that was not covered, that European manufacturers gradually left that space and made the product more expensive due to different circumstances and and the middle class did not have access to mobility, let’s say, modern, clean, technological, connected mobility and BYD came to occupy that space and the public was able to accept it very well.

– A technology that is not free, because behind it hides a team of engineers spectacular in number and also in number of patents. Oriental brands, Chinese brands no longer imitate, right?

– BYD has more than 1 million employees, including 120,000 engineers. Area engineers working in 11 research and development centers around the world. And these engineers are dedicated to thinking and innovating. And the result of this innovation is, as you said, 45 patents filed on average per day. 45. That’s innovation. Many of these patents are present in our daily lives, they are in our iPads, they are in phones, they are in other vehicles that are not BYD. BYD is a technology company that later decided to make cars, but BYD is a technology company. Therefore, BYD’s purpose is to innovate and build your dreams. Bringing this technology to the people in a democratic way, not for a few, is BYD’s big dream.

– BYD is also focusing on plug-in hybrids, why?

It seems that other brands have not done it, that they have done it more timidly or that there has even been criticism. However, for many, personally, it is the best of both worlds, it is an attractive solution. This is another of the advantages of BYD, its reaction time, what we call BYD Speed. BYD’s response speed is unique in the world. Read, study, understand, receive and listen above all to the customer. And what is clear is that there is a customer who wants to embark on electrification, but it is a process. There is still a lot of anxiety, especially in southern Europe and in big countries like ours, where there is still no culture of electrification and there is a lot of anxiety about charging times.

BYD’s plug-in hybrid vehicles, which we call DMI Dual Mode Intelligent, represent a unique technology in hybridization. I remind you that BYD was the first manufacturer to market a plug-in hybrid vehicle. A little after the year 2010 and this policy of gradually bringing electrification closer to the customer, well that has its reward, the customer demands it and BYD is there for it. But we are sure that the next plug-in hybrid car will be an electric car. We see it. The customer goes through this phase and finally when he knows the technology, when he experiences it, electric driving, because our hybrids exceed 100 km of electric driving and in daily driving you do not use combustion.

When you drive in thermal mode, you greatly miss electric driving, much cleaner, smoother, accelerations that you do not have in the thermal vehicle and comfort that is not comparable. Next year we are going to launch more plug-in hybrid models, we currently have two, and four more will come, we will have six models with plug-in hybrid technology and the public is demanding it. Year after year, I will give you some information, the penetration of plug-in hybrid technology has doubled in the Spanish market. While last year the penetration was around 5%, we are now above 10. So it is a technology that the customer demands. Electricity, recharges, batteries. But they are not equal.

– BYD was born 30 years ago as a battery manufacturer. Is this the DNA of the brand?

– BYD is the world’s second largest battery manufacturer. And he knows a lot about batteries. And those engineers that I mentioned earlier, a large portion of them work in battery chemistry, not only in chemistry, but also in design and engineering. Our Blade battery is recognized worldwide as one of the best automotive batteries. We have lithium ferrophosphate chemistry that is much safer. As you know, this is one of the few batteries that passes the penetration test, which is to puncture the battery, as you know. When a lithium battery, as soon as you pierce it and comes into contact with oxygen, heats up to 600 degrees and catches fire, our Blade Battery is pierced and does not exceed 60 degrees and does not catch fire.

In terms of security, this is a very important argument. Then we have Cell to Body technology whereby the battery goes into the chassis of the vehicle itself with this Blade cell design that guarantees, well, higher internal habitability than other electric vehicles, much more efficient and safe vehicle dynamics because it’s in the structure of the vehicle itself and well, and our experience with batteries is summed up in two numbers. 8-year or 250,000 km warranty. This is a very clear argument.