The last weekend of July in the summer of 2026, I spent it in Pingshan, Shenzhen.

That afternoon, I visited an Italian-style café near BYD's Global Headquarters to meet Old Li.

Old Li was my college roommate. After graduation, he joined BYD and has been there for over ten years. From the original F3, he worked his way up to the current YangWang.

He opened his laptop. The screen was densely packed with progress tables for building factories overseas and various technical blueprints.

I asked him if his body could handle the non-stop recent schedule.

He closed the laptop, took a big gulp of iced coffee, and his eyes shone with a extremely bright light:

"It's tiring, but I feel happy inside. In July, we sold 419,000 vehicles. Data on premium cars and overseas sales all broke records. This feeling is like holding back a powerful move for ten years and finally landing it on the opponent's face."

1

419,000 vehicles.

This number represents a massive gap on the July China New Energy Vehicle sales list. For 62 consecutive months, BYD has firmly occupied the throne of China's monthly New Energy Vehicle sales.

But what truly excited Old Li was not the sheer volume, but the structural qualitative change.

"Previously, there was always a stereotype outside that we only rely on low prices for volume." Old Li turned the computer screen toward me, pointing to a set of data. "Take a look at this."

In July, BYD's premium brands (FangChengBao, Denza, YangWang) sold over 60,000 vehicles in total, a year-on-year increase of about 135%. Especially FangChengBao, sold over 40,000 vehicles in a single month, with a brand average transaction price exceeding 220,000; YangWang and Denza also steadily consolidated their positions in their ultra-luxury and luxury segments.

Old Li said, going for the premium segment is BYD's ingrained obsession with "daring to dream".

He recalled the past few years when the company proposed developing "e4", "DiSus", and million-level luxury cars. How many doubts came from outside. Some said it was a pipe dream, others said Chinese brands couldn't sell at that price.

"But Boss Wang (Wang Chuanfu) and our technical team just dared to do it, and dared to persist," Old Li said. "We stayed up countless nights and days in the lab, not to compete in a low-level price war, but to achieve a real generational advantage in core technologies."

When YangWang U8 turned around in place and floated on emergency water, when FangChengBao Bao 5 walked easily in the desert and snow, all those doubts turned into amazement.

Old Li looked at me, smiling and said: "Do you know what the most satisfying moment is for a Chinese engineer? It's not about how much bonus was issued, but seeing the code you wrote yourself and the chassis you tuned, forcing those once lofty century-old luxury brands to bow down and study you."

This is a pure sense of pride belonging to tech geeks.

2

After finishing the coffee, Old Li drove me to Yantian Port.

The sea breeze mixed with a salty wet scent. Massive Ro-Ro ships looked like moving steel islands, swallowing new BYD cars one by one into their bellies.

In July, BYD's passenger car and pickup overseas sales reached nearly 180,000 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 124.3%, setting a new historical high. For the first 7 months of this year, cumulative overseas sales approached the one million vehicle milestone.

Standing by the dock, Old Li pointed to the cars about to go to the vast ocean and said: "These cars are going to Europe, Latin America, Southeast Asia. Our overseas channels and factories are sprouting vigorously."

Going global is another key battleground for BYD's "daring to act".

Old Li told me that current global expansion is no longer the simple "selling goods out" of those days, but "rooting" across the whole industry chain and system.

"We built factories in Hungary, Brazil, and Thailand. We not only brought cars, but also brought flash charging technology, brought God's Eye high-level intelligent driving, and brought China's new energy standards."

He spoke of the experience of opening up the European market last year. The team was then facing European giants with hundreds of years of automotive cultural heritage, and local consumers were full of scrutiny towards a car brand from China.

"We didn't retreat. We relied on hardcore technical presentations one after another, on real test drive experiences one after another, tearing open a gap forcibly." Old Li said, "Daring to persist is fighting to the end in places others think are impossible and too difficult."

Looking at those huge ships sailing towards the deep blue, I suddenly felt somewhat emotional.

Decades ago, we exchanged 800 million shirts for one airplane; more than ten years ago, we exchanged cheap OEM products for meager foreign exchange.

And today, Chinese engineers use self-developed three-electric systems and leading intelligent cockpits to transport high-value-added cars ship by ship to the world, to exchange for a say at the top of the global industrial chain.

This is not only a victory of business, but also a leap of the spirit of the times.

3

On the evening of August 1st, the sales list for July was officially released.

I looked closely at that table. BYD 419,000, SAIC 177,000, Geely 160,000, Chery 129,000, Leapmotor 101,000. Further down, new forces at the 30,000 to 40,000 level.

This is a glamorous list, also the prelude to a major reshuffle of China's automotive industry.

In this era of winner-takes-all, there is no middle ground. Those names not on the list, those car companies that were once in the limelight, some have already stopped production, some are struggling hard in the ICU.

I asked Old Li, facing such an industry landscape, what is BYD's real moat?

He thought for a while and said six words:

Dare to think, dare to act, dare to persist.

"Many people only see our current sales, but didn't see we persisted on LFP for over ten years, persisted on PHEV technology for over ten years." Old Li said. "When the wind of opportunity comes, only those enterprises that truly dare to imagine the future, dare to put in hard work on R&D, and persist in long-termism even during low periods, can receive this overwhelming wealth."

This persistence is not blind involution, but a certainty towards "doing hard but correct things".

In BYD's engineer culture, everyone pursues a huge sense of accomplishment after overcoming difficulties. When a new technology becomes reality from blueprints, when a new model fights all over the global market, the joy of dopamine secretion cannot be replaced by anything.

This is exactly the positive energy most needed in today's Chinese society, using solid technology and innovation to win the world's respect.

4

On the way back from Yantian Port to the city center, the sunset dyed Shennan Avenue golden yellow.

Old Li told me that next week he would fly to Hungary to monitor the final debugging work of the European passenger car factory.

"The team over there is ready. We want to get the first car off the line locally in Europe before the end of the year." In his tone, there was no fatigue from long-distance flying, only anticipation for the new journey about to begin.

Looking at the profile of his face as he focused on driving, I suddenly felt that the best stories of this era are actually written by millions of people like Old Li.

They are trendsetters in the tide of this country's industrial upgrading. They have light in their eyes, fire in their hearts, and a road under their feet.

419,000 vehicles are not only scattered across every corner of China, but will eventually also spread to all corners of the world.

They will become new favorites in European middle-class garages, partners for Latin American families on weekend outings, and the most beautiful scenery on Southeast Asian streets.

They are not only transportation tools, but also business cards for China's intelligent manufacturing going global.

When getting off the car, I shook hands with Old Li vigorously.

"Everything goes smoothly in Europe, waiting for your good news." I said.

He nodded smiling, pressed the gas pedal, and the car merged into the Shenzhen evening rush hour traffic flowing forward.

Watching the car disappear, I know that the Great Age of Navigation belonging to Chinese cars and Chinese engineers has just begun.