BYD president Wang Chuanfu told a press conference the company had made some strategic mistakes – like ignoring product quality – in recent years and sees 2011-2012 as an adjustment period.
Wang said BYD’s growth had slowed in the last two years and the company had been working on solving problems with its vehicles such as excessive noise and wipers, issues with the sales and service network and its approach to media and advertising.
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Changes began with the sales network in China which has now been pruned from 1,000 outlets to 830.
Wang said he accepted BYD could have been more open and shared more information about what was going on in the company.
The sales staff head count will be maintained at about 2,500 and the number of sales networks is being reduced from four to three. The company has also decided to recruit more technical staff each year.
Wang said the former general manager of BYD Sales Company, Xia Zhibing, had made the decision to quit alone and mistakes had been made by the whole company and not just Xia alone.
The company plans a new training programme for all staff.
It is also working on improving the quality of all its products to meet the standard of local JV auto brands. The IQS target is within 10%.
The S6 and F0 models currently meet that standard and the company is now concentrating on the F3.
The F3’s screen wipers have attracted numerous complaints so Bosch has been selected as a new supplier.
Wang said BYD’s second half production would include 200 electric buses and it plans to make 2,000 in 2012.
