BEIJING (Reuters) -An executive at top Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer BYD said on Friday there was no “Evergrande” risk among mainstream Chinese automakers.
Last week, Great Wall Motor Chairman Wei Jianjun said the country’s auto industry had its own Evergrande, referring to the debt-laden developer that became the centre of a liquidity crisis in China’s property sector.
Wei’s critical comments were a reminder of the risks facing the industry, Zhu Huarong, chairman of state-owned automaker Changan told an annual shareholder meeting on Tuesday, according to local media.
But writing on Weibo, Li Yunfei, BYD’s general manager of branding and public relations, said Wei’s comments were “astonishing”.
Li said he felt “puzzled, angry and amused” by the articles, comments and videos on social media that alluded to BYD as being the EV industry’s equivalent of Evergrande.
BYD is investigating the “legal responsibility” of relevant parties who had “viciously” spread the hostile comments, Li said.
Great Wall Motor did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
China’s EV makers have been locked in a bruising domestic price war since Tesla cut showroom prices in 2023. They are also competing against Elon Musk’s carmaker in the global market where BYD has emerged as Tesla’s closest rival.
Tensions between Great Wall Motor and BYD erupted into the open that year after the Hebei-based automaker announced it had filed a report with China’s regulators against BYD, claiming its rival’s two top-selling hybrid models did not meet emissions standards.
Later that year, BYD made a patriotic call for China’s auto industry to band together and “demolish the old legends” of the global car market, drawing a rebuke from Great Wall Motor.
“At such a critical moment, how can Chinese automakers be together?” Wang Yuanli, the then chief technology officer at Great Wall Motor, posted on his Weibo account. “If we only talk about being together but keep our bitterness in our hearts, it would be better to have the fight first.”
(Reporting by Beijing newsroom; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Kate Mayberry)
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