From the world's biggest manufacturer of mobile phone batteries to acar company with global pretensions, BYD is a Chinese company that hasroared onto the international stage energized by its workaholic founderWang Chuanfu.
Wang's hands-on approach to running a business with 130,000 employees-- he still eats in the company canteen and lives in a BYD-ownedhousing complex -- isn't too far removed from how he built the companyfrom scratch in 1995 when he was 29 years old.
Wang trained as an engineer and studied the patents of other companies'mobile phone batteries, even taking them apart to see how they weremade. He raised some start-up capital from a relative to create his ownmobile phone battery-making business in Shenzhen, the special economiczone just north of Hong Kong.
BYD's business approach differed from the likes of Sony and Sanyo bysubstituting an automated system for one of China's biggest resources,physical labor.
Employing thousands of people was cheaper than installing expensiverobotic assembly lines, and by 2000 BYD had become the biggest mobilephone battery maker in the world.
Wang bought a failing Chinese car company in 2003 to enter theautomobile market, and BYD now has a number of models available inChina, including a plug-hybrid car cheaper than the market-leadingToyota Prius.
The success of BYD has attracted plenty of attention from industryanalysts and investors from the West, including Warren Buffet. Thebillionaire American has invested $250 million in BYD, making even morepeople in the West sit up and take note of the company.
Wang isn't content to just compete in the hybrid and electric carmarket in China; he aims to keep BYD's meteoric rise going and make itthe world's biggest car maker by 2025.
"It is a big ambition. In January and February 2009 China was theworld's biggest automobile consuming market for those months. So basedon this, China can sell more than 10 million automobiles this year. Somaybe China can exceed the USA and become the biggest market in theworld," Wang told CNN.
BYD stands for "Build Your Dreams" and Wang is trying to fulfill theaspiration among many in China of creating a national champion; a brandwith international respect and reputation of quality.
Wang believes the electric car can be that product, and BYD the company to do it.
"For new energy vehicles...China is on the same level or even leadingother countries. In the field of new energy cars, China hopes thatChinese companies can catch up with the rest of the world and catch upwith the pace," said Wang.
But the term "Made in China" still has a stigma attached to it. Thescandals of tainted milk and toys that had to be recalled rocked Chinain 2008 and diminished the reputation of Chinese products abroad.
"This kind of 'Made in China' is different from other types of 'Made inChina.' Our products have never been recalled, unlike many of ourcompetitors. Judging from that, products made in China are sometimesbetter that those made elsewhere. As long as there are high-standards,Chinese manufacturing companies can definitely meet those standards,"said Wang.
China also has acute environmental problems. It is the world's biggestemitter of greenhouse gases and Wang is aware that being anentrepreneur also means having an eye on the environmental impact ofhis business.
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"As an entrepreneur, I think I have to consider both aspects. One partis the creation of a new business mode, or the revelation of newbusiness competition. The other is that it's for social responsibility,making our Earth bluer.
"Urban pollution, reliance on petroleum and emission of carbon dioxideare three problems that entrepreneurs have to consider for basic socialresponsibility," said Wang.
作者: riverpeak 時(shí)間: 2009-5-10 23:36
怎么看著像公司內(nèi)部網(wǎng)啊哈哈，有空把公司內(nèi)部網(wǎng)截圖上來給大家看看作者: 老郭 時(shí)間: 2009-5-11 09:00
對(duì)了，老弟是王總門下的作者: McuPlayer 時(shí)間: 2009-6-15 12:02
riverpeak一定是看起來很親切，內(nèi)網(wǎng)天天看作者: 原野之狼 時(shí)間: 2009-6-15 12:18
都是大人物呀~
