CarBrandLogos archive · BYD · 2005

BYDF3

A battery maker's first hit car, and China's best-seller before anyone was watching.

Photo: Kevauto · CC BY-SA 4.0

The story

A defining chapter in BYD history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the BYD F3, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

BYD was a battery company. Wang Chuanfu had built it into one of the world's largest makers of rechargeable cells for phones, and in 2003 he bought a small state-owned carmaker, Qinchuan Automobile, because he wanted somewhere to put batteries eventually. The F3, launched in 2005, was the product that funded that ambition.

BYD F3 rear 2 China · Navigator84 · CC BY-SA 3.0

Design and engineering

It was a compact front-wheel-drive saloon that looked conspicuously like a Toyota Corolla from the front and a Honda Fit from the rear, used an engine derived from a Mitsubishi design, and undercut both by a wide margin. Chinese buyers, entering the car market in enormous numbers and looking for reliable transport rather than originality, bought it in quantity. In 2009 the F3 was the best-selling car in China, the first time a domestic brand had taken the title.

BYD F3 01 China · Navigator84 · CC BY-SA 3.0

In production

The cash and the manufacturing experience mattered more than the car. Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway took a stake in BYD in 2008 on the strength of the battery business and its plans for electrification. The F3 stayed in production until 2021 and was eventually succeeded by the Qin, by which point BYD was no longer copying anyone.

BYD F3 facelift -- Auto China · Navigator84 · CC BY-SA 3.0

At a glance