Who Owns BYD?

BYD is a Chinese public company with no controlling shareholder. BYD Company Limited is listed in Hong Kong and Shenzhen; its founder Wang Chuanfu holds a substantial minority, and Berkshire Hathaway was a major shareholder for fifteen years before selling down. The UK register says nothing: BYD (U.K.) Co., Ltd. files a statement that it has no registrable person. Ownership verified 6 September 2026.

Who owns the Byd brand?

BYD Company Limited is based in Shenzhen and listed on both the Hong Kong and Shenzhen exchanges. It has no parent and no majority shareholder.

The British company is BYD (U.K.) CO., LTD. (08458577), incorporated 22 March 2013 — and its previous name is HONG DA TONG UK LIMITED. Like many foreign groups entering Britain, BYD took over an existing company rather than forming a new one.

Its PSC register carries no owner. Since 22 March 2017 it has filed a statement that it knows or has reasonable cause to believe that there is no registrable person or registrable relevant legal entity in relation to the company.

Parent company and ultimate owner

Because the UK register names nobody, the answer comes from Hong Kong and Shenzhen disclosures rather than from Companies House.

Wang Chuanfu, who founded BYD in 1995 as a battery maker, remains chairman and the largest individual shareholder with a stake reported at roughly 17%. That is influence and a strong position, not control: he cannot outvote the rest of the register alone.

The remainder is held by institutions, Chinese state-linked investors and the public. BYD is not state-owned, though like all large Chinese companies it operates under close state supervision — a distinction worth drawing carefully, because “Chinese company” and “Chinese state company” are routinely conflated.

Brand owner vs operating company

BYD Company Limited owns the brand and manufactures in China, Hungary, Brazil, Thailand and elsewhere. BYD (U.K.) Co., Ltd. handles British operations, and the cars are sold through franchised dealers owned by independent motor retail groups.

BYD is unusual among carmakers in what it makes besides cars: it began as a battery manufacturer and still is one, producing the cells for its own vehicles and for others. It also builds electric buses — including a large share of the electric fleet in London — and has done so here for longer than it has sold cars.

When the ownership changed

BYD has never been taken over. Its ownership story is one significant investment and one long exit.

In 2008 Berkshire Hathaway bought around 10% of BYD, on Charlie Munger’s recommendation, for a reported $230m. It was one of Berkshire’s most profitable investments. From 2022 Berkshire sold down steadily, reducing the holding to a small fraction over the following years.

The name stands for nothing in particular. “Build Your Dreams” was applied afterwards as a backronym; the letters came first.

The company’s shift from batteries to vehicles came through the 2003 purchase of Qinchuan Automobile, a small state-owned carmaker — the acquisition that made BYD a car company at all, and the only material change in what it owns rather than who owns it.

Related brands in the same group

BYD owns the BYD marque and the premium sub-brands Denza, Yangwang and Fang Cheng Bao, alongside BYD Electronic, a separately listed contract manufacturer, and its battery and rail transit businesses.

It has no connection to any Western carmaker. It is not owned by, and does not own, Geely — the separate Chinese group that owns Volvo Cars, Lotus and Polestar — nor SAIC, which owns MG. Those three are routinely confused with each other in British coverage, and they are competitors under entirely separate ownership.

Sources and verification

The UK company number, the 2013 incorporation, the Hong Da Tong previous name and the active no-registrable-person statement of 22 March 2017 are from the Companies House register — and it is worth being explicit that the register establishes nothing about who owns BYD.

Everything else comes from BYD’s disclosures to the Hong Kong and Shenzhen exchanges and from Berkshire Hathaway’s own filings. Wang Chuanfu’s reported stake is a snapshot at a disclosure date. Chinese listed-company disclosure operates under different rules from the UK’s, and holdings by state-linked entities can be harder to trace to an ultimate holder than this page can resolve. Companies House does not verify most filed information.