The BYD Shenzhen slipped its moorings from the southeastern Chinese port of Xiamen in late November to embark on a high-stakes journey across the Pacific with 1,768 new electric vehicles onboard. The mission: get to Mexico before recently announced tariffs on Chinese imports kicked in on Jan. 1.
After sailing through stormy seas on a hastily-plotted route, the freighter arrived at Lazaro Cardenas seaport on Dec. 21, saving the world’s largest EV maker millions of dollars in duties. That it did so with time to spare, at a time when others were scrambling to charter any cargo ships, was a testament to why one of the largest private fleets in China’s auto industry gave BYD an advantage over competitors during turbulent times.
With the Iran conflict roiling freight routes and sending shipping rates soaring, BYD’s fleet of eight carriers is coming in handy again as the company bets on exports to pull it out of a yearlong earnings slump. Born out of necessity in 2022 in the wake of the Covid pandemic, when BYD realized it couldn’t count on ships for hire, the Chinese company is now able to ferry about 300,000 cars worth billions of dollars a year to Africa, Europe, Latin America — and even the Middle East.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.