Before I started the Autocade website (I had been using the name prior as the motoring section of Lucire in print), I blogged about the BYD F0, or F1 as it was originally called. I called them out on the very obvious piracy—this was a Toyota Aygo clone—and BYD even went as far as to take Toyota’s publicity photo and doctor it slightly.
Before you knew it, BYD stans came by. Were they affiliated with the company? Or the PRC? Their attacks got personal straight away, questioning if, as a person of Chinese ethnicity, I was a turncoat and hated my own race. It’s a tactic that creeps up every now and then when it comes to politics. And now that you know, you can call that out, too.
And here’s YouTuber JayEmm saying that not much has changed at BYD, especially when it comes to influencers in China, who arguably have the attention that bloggers once had. BYD has sued those influencers for saying what it feels is defamatory, even if it’s true.
It’s a real shame as BYD has moved past its pirate days and has some pretty striking designs. The main Autocade reference talks about a lot of Chinese models because we genuinely find them exciting. Year of Cars 2025 devotes an entire chapter on Chinese luxury marques. With all this confidence, you’d think these underhanded tactics were a thing of the past.
One friend has told me of rust on his wife’s Yuan Plus after just one year, and, according to JayEmm, Amnesty International rates BYD at the bottom of its list for human rights. We should be free to point these things out so BYD gets better. Even the Chinese press, these days, calls out piracy, and guess what? The standards on intellectual property have improved. There are fewer pirated designs these days. Yes, there are Tesla Model 3 rivals with similar silhouettes, but that’s no worse than everyone going slippery after the Audi 100 C3 was launched in 1982.
But going after influencers for questioning the company or telling an uncomfortable truth is a bad look. JayEmm rightly says that while this isn’t happening in the UK—though BYD and Jaecoo are looking for positive press and are willing to pay for it—he feels that he has to speak up for the sake of his Chinese colleagues. I have to, too, especially because I share their heritage and I know how important it is to share your passion about a subject.
Here’s JayEmm’s video:
Jack Yan is founder and publisher of Autocade.