BYD Surpasses Toyota and Tesla in Employee Count but Lags in Sales Efficiency
Chinese company BYD has increased its workforce to 1.02 million, surpassing Toyota, General Motors, Ford, and Tesla combined.
Toyota employs 390,000, General Motors — 156,000, Ford — 169,000, and Tesla — 134,000. The total workforce of these four manufacturers is about 851,000, which is 170,000 less than BYD. Even Volkswagen with 662,000 employees falls short compared to the Chinese competitor.
Since the beginning of 2026, BYD has hired around 150,000 people, despite a decline in sales. According to Chairman Wang Chuanfu, the large workforce is due to vertical integration: the company produces many key components, electronics, and even railway transport.
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Approximately 960,000 employees work in China, 60,000 abroad, and 120,000 are engaged in research and development.
However, in terms of cars sold per employee, BYD significantly lags behind its competitors. In 2025, the company sold 4.6 million vehicles, which corresponds to 5.3 cars per employee. Tesla's figure is about 12, Volkswagen Group's is 13.5, and Toyota's reaches 29.
In the first 9 months of 2026, BYD sold 3,131,576 vehicles, 3.9% less than the previous year. Meanwhile, overseas sales are growing: during the same period, BYD sold 1,342,960 vehicles outside China, showing a 92.7% increase compared to last year.
