If you followed the images of Beijing International Auto Show This past weekend, perhaps you had the same strange sensation as me: the axis of the world turned, and we almost didn’t notice.
There was a time, and it wasn’t that long ago, when the “Made in China” seal stuck to the back of a car was an immediate sign of distrust. The plastic seemed fragile, the design seemed copied.
Today, the irony is palpable: the Western world (including Brazil) is on the waiting list, surrendered to Chinese engineering. What was once synonymous with dubious quality now dictates the pace, technology and design of the next decade.
They went from being a cheap copy to becoming the original mold. And that brings us to the great turning point in the automobile market of our time.
The era of electrification
On this new board, BYD no longer acts like an automaker trying to gain space; it acts like a technology company dictating behavioral rules and, consequently, commercial ones as well.
What we saw at the Beijing auto show was not just a parade of new models (including supercars with more than 1,000 horsepower), but the breakdown of the last major consumer objection: recharging time.
“Range anxiety” has always been the Achilles heel of the electric market. Well, imagine ordering an espresso at a convenience store counter. In around five minutes, the ultra-fast charging superstructure presented by BYD already guarantees 70% battery life.
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If you wait nine minutes, the charge jumps from 10% to 97%. In other words, they are not just selling cars. They are compressing time.
But how did we reach this boiling point here in Brazil? You might even think it was a shout from Luciano Huck on Domingão… But, in reality, it was a much more extensive and silent process.
BYD began its operation here in Brazil in the B2B market, with electric buses and corporate fleets. They learned the local rules, set up the infrastructure, and when the market blinked, the door was already open. The adoption curve is the pure reflection of those who knew how to create demand.
Later, in 2022, BYD began B2C work and registered a shy 260 car units. It just seemed like a niche for enthusiasts. In the following year, 2023, the jump was to 17,937. In 2024, more than 76 thousand vehicles. And last year, in 2025, they crossed the line of 112 thousand cars sold. The result of this climb? In 2026, BYD sleeps comfortably in the Top 5 of the best-selling brands in the country.
The water hit the competition’s neck.
“Traditional” automakers had to tear up their conservative schedules. By the end of this year, virtually all major brands will have hybrid or electric options as their main assets in dealerships.
But the question remains: if BYD and its compatriots hadn’t landed here with both feet in the door, would we be experiencing this revolution now or would we endure another decade of combustion cars with light “facelifts”?
We will probably never find out what would happen in this parallel reality. The fact is that the fossil fuel era, which moved the world (literally) for more than a century, has begun to be shelved.
And, as in every paradigm shift, the change in the nucleus affects the entire orbit. The peripheral ecosystem will need to be rewritten.
For example…
What happens to the traditional network of mechanical workshops when the engine starts to have a minimum fraction of moving parts? How will gas stations on highways monetize the attention of that driver who will now be stopped there for fifteen or twenty minutes?
I still hear a lot of people, with their foot on the brake, saying: “But I worry about the resale of an electric car in the future”.
Personally, I look across the street. I’m much more concerned about the resale of combustion cars. Have you ever stopped to think about what happens to your garage assets when, suddenly, no one wants to buy a car that only drinks gas and the value plummets overnight?
But, as the focus of “Idea Therapy” is looking at chaos and seeing opportunities, I leave the provocation on your table: the engine has changed. The market has changed. What can you develop as a solution to surf this new and gigantic peripheral market that has just been born?
