BYD Claims China’s Throne and Accepts Full Liability for Autopilot Crashes

BYD overtakes SAIC with 383,453 vehicles sold in May, pledges unlimited liability for God's Eye 5.0, and mass-produces homegrown 4nm chip for Level 3-4 autonomy.

BYD has thrown down the gauntlet on two fronts at once. The Shenzhen-based carmaker toppled SAIC Group to become China’s best-selling automaker in May, while simultaneously announcing it will foot the bill for any accidents caused by its “God’s Eye” autonomous-driving system. The combination of market leadership and an unprecedented liability pledge marks a pivotal moment for the company’s ambitions.

Sales reached 383,453 vehicles in May, including 376,990 passenger cars — a 20% jump from April. That put BYD comfortably ahead of SAIC’s 349,000 units. The Dynasty and Ocean lineups accounted for roughly 330,000 of the total, while the higher-margin Fang Cheng Bao off-road brand delivered 30,186 vehicles and the Denza premium marque chipped in 16,303. Cumulative deliveries for the first five months of 2026 stand at 1.4 million cars, despite a sluggish opening quarter.

The liability guarantee, however, is what sets BYD apart from every other major automaker. Under the offer — valid for one year in China and limited to God’s Eye software version 5.0 — BYD will cover repair costs for the insured vehicle, third-party damage, personal injury, and legal fees if the system is used according to the rules. There is no cap on payouts, and the owner’s insurance premium will not rise the following year. Founder and Chairman Wang Chuanfu priced the system at 12,000 renminbi, about $1,770. The logic is grounded in experience: when BYD earlier assumed liability for Level-4 parking, usage of the feature soared from 21% to 93%.

Underpinning both the sales success and the autonomy push is a homegrown chip. BYD has begun mass production of the Xuanji A3, a 4-nanometer automotive processor capable of 700 trillion operations per second (TOPS) per unit, and more than 2,100 TOPS in a three-chip configuration — enough to enable Level-3 and Level-4 autonomous driving. The company has invested over 100 billion yuan ($14 billion) in semiconductor development since 2002, operating five dedicated fabrication plants. The chip is designed to work with LiDAR systems featuring more than 1,000 lines, HDR cameras, and dual long-wave infrared cameras.

The international expansion continues alongside these domestic milestones. BYD targets exports of 1.3 to 1.5 million vehicles for the full year 2026 and is reportedly in talks with Stellantis about acquiring idling factory sites in Europe. In Canada, the company is exploring ways to benefit from low-tariff quotas.

But the growth story faces near-term financial headwinds. First-quarter net profit slumped 55% to 4.1 billion yuan, hit by foreign-exchange losses of 2.1 billion yuan. Revenue came in at 150.2 billion yuan, though cash reserves remain comfortable at 73.4 billion yuan, providing ample room for the ongoing expansion.

Shareholders will have a busy day on June 9, when BYD holds its annual general meeting in Shenzhen. Among the resolutions is a plan to authorize the board to issue new H-shares — up to 20% of the existing H-share count — as well as debt instruments of up to 50 billion yuan to bolster working capital and fund investments. A final dividend of 0.358 yuan per share for fiscal 2025 is also on the table, payable on August 9 if approved. The H-share closed at HK$91.15 on June 1, near the bottom of its 52-week range of HK$88.50 to HK$143.60. The liability pledge and the capital-market agenda together give investors two clear catalysts to watch as the meeting approaches.