比亚迪商用车BYD Commercial Vehicles

Who owns BYD Commercial Vehicles? The ownership chain, BYD's stake and the 2003 deal

Facts checked Chinese holding 100%

BYD's bus and truck business is Chinese, part of BYD Company Limited. Its electric buses run in cities across Europe, the Americas and Asia-Pacific, and BYD assembles some of them locally, including at Komarom in Hungary and Lancaster, California.

BYD's bus, truck and forklift business is a division of BYD Company, not a separate marque. Its North American arm trades as RIDE and builds vehicles at Lancaster, California; its European bus plant is at Komárom, Hungary.

The short answer

Controlled by BYD
Stake100%
Since2003
Kindbrand
OriginCN
Name in Chinese 比亚迪商用车 Bǐyàdí shāngyòngchē “BEE-yah-DEE shahng-yong-chuh”
Top of the chainLü Xiangyang
Is it Chinese? Yes

The chain, step by step

  1. Lü Xiangyang holds a stake in BYD since February 1995.

    Wang Chuanfu's cousin, BYD's co-founder and early financial backer; he has held BYD shares through Guangzhou Rongjie Investment. The current percentage was not verified.

  2. BYD owns BYD Commercial Vehicles at 100% since 2003.

    BYD's bus, truck and forklift business is a division of BYD Company, not a separate marque. Its North American arm trades as RIDE and builds vehicles at Lancaster, California; its European bus plant is at Komárom, Hungary.

Every holding above this entity, with the stake and the date it began.
Holder Holds Kind Stake Since
Lü Xiangyang BYD holds a stake in not published February 1995
BYD BYD Commercial Vehicles owns 100% 2003

BYD Commercial Vehicles: questions people ask

Does BYD sell anything in the United States?
Yes — buses and trucks, not cars. BYD's Lancaster, California plant has built battery-electric buses since 2013 and the North American business now trades as RIDE. No BYD passenger car is sold to US retail buyers.
Are BYD buses made in America?
The ones sold in the United States are. RIDE says its transit buses are built at Lancaster, California by unionised employees.
Where does BYD build buses for Europe?
At Komárom in northern Hungary, opened in 2017 as BYD's first wholly owned European vehicle plant. An expansion begun in 2025 triples capacity to about 1,250 vehicles a year.
What is RIDE?
RIDE is the trading name of BYD's North American commercial-vehicle business. Its own site describes it as the US spinoff of BYD and says its buses are built at Lancaster, California.

Related

Sources for BYD Commercial Vehicles

  1. Legal Planet (UC Berkeley / UCLA law schools), A Tour of BYD's Factory in Lancaster, California. Read . Plant size, products, union workforce, the RIDE name and the absence of US consumer car sales
  2. RIDE (BYD Motors Inc.), Our Story. Read . RIDE describes itself as the US spinoff of BYD and confirms Lancaster manufacturing
  3. BYD Europe, BYD opens its first owned bus plant in Europe in Komarom, Hungary. Read . Company release: 2017 opening, €20m investment, 66,000 sq m site, up to 400 buses a year
  4. electrive, Electric Buses for Europe: BYD triples capacity at Komárom plant. Read . €75.7m expansion, 29,000 sq m, 620 jobs, capacity to about 1,250 vehicles a year
  5. CnEVPost, BYD sold 440,293 NEVs in Aug, up 17.84% year-on-year. Read . August 2026 commercial-vehicle volume
  6. Wikipedia, List of automobile manufacturers of China. Read . BYD Auto listed among major private Chinese manufacturers.
  7. Wikipedia, BYD Company. Read .