How BYD Overtook Tesla in the EV Sales Race

Summary

Episode Overview

Title: How BYD Overtook Tesla in the EV Sales Race
Date: January 23, 2026
Podcast: WSJ Tech News Briefing
Host: Peter Ciampelli
Guests: Nicole Nguyen (WSJ Personal Tech Columnist), Stephen Wilmot (WSJ Reporter)

This episode explores two major topics in the tech and auto industries. First, it reviews Google’s latest AI features for Gmail and their impact on user productivity. Second, it dives into how Chinese automaker BYD surpassed Tesla as the world's top seller of electric vehicles, looking at the global strategy, challenges, and implications for the auto industry, with insights from WSJ’s Stephen Wilmot.

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Part 1: Google’s New AI Tools for Gmail

[00:19–05:01]

Key Points & Insights

• AI Features Rolling Out in Gmail

  • New features in Gmail include:
    • Ghostwriter/Proofreader: AI helps compose emails faster by mimicking user writing style.
    • Suggested Replies: Unlike canned auto responses, these are more tailored and can reflect the user's “voice.”
    • AI Inbox: A separate inbox highlighting important action items, summarized and prioritized by AI.
    • Advanced Search: Allows for contextual search, like looking up specific past order details, with AI surfacing direct answers.
  • "People spend something like 20% of their time actually writing emails and the other 80% is just sort of managing the mess."
    — Nicole Nguyen [01:34]

• How Are These Tools Different?

  • Older auto-reply features are basic and canned.
  • The new suggested replies are personalized using generative AI trained on years of user data, generating responses that sound like the user and drawing context from the conversation thread.
  • Help Me Write feature: Users can type a short prompt and have AI generate a formal, context-aware email.
    • “It can include relevant information from previous emails.”
      — Nicole Nguyen [03:23]

• Concerns About AI “Hallucinations”

  • AI-generated content can produce errors or make up information.
  • Google is rolling out these tools cautiously, initially to a limited group, due to Gmail’s massive user base (3 billion people).
    • "They definitely don't want to break a fundamental communication tool for 3 billion people.”
      — Nicole Nguyen [04:09]

• Competition in AI Email

  • Gmail dominates, but Outlook is a strong competitor, and new AI-focused inboxes (e.g., Superhuman, Fixer AI) exist but are expensive and aimed at professionals.
  • Gmail’s wide rollout makes these features more accessible for everyday users.
    • "It's really compelling because more likely that your mom and your cousin and your colleagues will all start to use these kinds of tools."
      — Nicole Nguyen [04:45]

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Part 2: How BYD Overtook Tesla in the EV Sales Race

[06:02–11:03]

Discussion Breakdown

• How Did BYD Rise Globally?

  • Two waves of Chinese car exports:
    • First: Focused on emerging markets and combustion engines (e.g., Russia).
    • Second: EVs and plug-in hybrids, with BYD leading, targeting Europe, Mexico, Brazil, Australia, and more.
    • “They’ve pitched them at quite affordable prices and consumers are lapping them up where they can.”
      — Stephen Wilmot [07:06]

• BYD’s Popularity in Europe

  • Initial European entry (2021) targeted luxury segments but later pivoted to smaller, popular car categories.
  • Now competing with market leaders like Toyota and Volkswagen.
    • “They brought out newer vehicles in kind of small car categories that Europeans buy a lot of.”
      — Stephen Wilmot [07:33]

• China’s Need to Export

  • Overcapacity in China’s car industry due to heavy investment and competition in the EV sector.
  • BYD performs better abroad than at home, so exports are crucial.
  • In 2023, China became the world’s largest car exporter, exporting over 7 million vehicles.
    • "EVs have been a kind of priority sector, strategic sector in Beijing, and that’s led to a lot of EV startups and a lot of competition within China."
      — Stephen Wilmot [08:06]

• Political and Regulatory Barriers

  • Tariffs in the US and EU complicate Chinese EV imports.
    • EU tariffs target electric vehicles specifically, prompting BYD to sell more plug-in hybrids.
    • US policies (e.g., Connected Vehicle Rule) essentially keep Chinese cars—and software—out, making US market entry very challenging.
    • “The US is the one country that really has so far kept them out. ... There’s a rule ... called the Connected Vehicle Rule, which essentially bans Chinese software from cars.”
      — Stephen Wilmot [09:18]

• Potential Pathways Into the US Market

  • Trump’s recent remarks opened the door to Chinese automakers if they build in the US, but this strategy is risky and capital-intensive.
    • "It’s much easier for them to build a brand presence through exports initially and then build a factory... trying to set up initially by building a factory, that’s a very high risk kind of investment."
      — Stephen Wilmot [09:56]

• How Are Established EV Companies Responding?

  • Intense focus on competing with Chinese EV advancements, especially in Europe.
  • Legacy automakers seek to replicate “China speed”—shorter development times, reduced costs.
  • US automakers, like Ford, are adapting in anticipation of eventual direct competition.
    • “There’s partly a sense that it’s inevitable eventually that they’ll have to compete head to head, even if the time frame isn’t entirely clear.”
      — Stephen Wilmot [10:52]

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Notable Quotes

• On AI in Gmail:
  “They are one upping this technology by using generative AI. Also training on your years and years of Gmail data to mimic your voice.”
  — Nicole Nguyen, [01:57]

• On Chinese EV Export Growth:
  "Overall vehicle exports from China, which is already, since 2023, the world's largest car exporter, rose to over 7 million vehicles."
  — Stephen Wilmot, [08:26]

• On US Regulatory Barriers:
  "There’s a rule that was enacted in the final years of the Biden administration called the Connected Vehicle Rule, which essentially bans Chinese software from cars. That makes it very hard for them to gear up for a market entry."
  — Stephen Wilmot, [09:26]

• On Western Automakers' Response:
  “They’re trying to match what they call China speed—to shorten their development cycles, to lower their costs, to essentially try and match the advances that the Chinese have made.”
  — Stephen Wilmot, [10:33]

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Key Timestamps

• 00:19 — Introduction & overview of Google’s new Gmail AI tools
• 01:27 — Nicole Nguyen explains the buckets of Gmail’s AI-powered features
• 03:16 — Differences between traditional and new AI-generated replies
• 04:03 — AI hallucinations and Google’s cautious approach
• 04:24 — Competitive landscape for AI email
• 06:02 — Stephen Wilmot on BYD’s global expansion
• 07:16 — BYD’s strategy and success in Europe
• 08:00 — China’s export push explained
• 08:45 — Political challenges in the EU and US
• 09:53 — US market possibilities for BYD
• 10:28 — How legacy automakers are adapting to the threat
• 11:03 — Episode closes

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Engaging Summary

This episode of WSJ Tech News Briefing blends timely discussions on two major shifts in global tech and auto: Google’s increasingly personalized AI for email, and BYD’s overtaking of Tesla in the EV sales race. Nicole Nguyen details the nuanced, user-specific upgrades coming to Gmail, while Stephen Wilmot unpacks the seismic changes in the auto industry as Chinese automakers challenge Western dominance, facing both market enthusiasm and mounting political pushback. Listeners are left with a clear sense of rapid technological change—and the global tensions that come with it.

Transcript

[Stephen Wilmot]

As AI transforms work, forward looking leaders are reimagining roles, empowering teams, and shaping a more connected and adaptive workforce. Learn more on a new episode of techfluential, a podcast from Deloitte, and custom content from WSJ.

[Peter Ciampelli]

Welcome to Tech News briefing. It's Friday, January 23rd. I'm Peter Ciampelli for the Wall Street Journal. Google wants to use AI to change the way we use email from ghostwriting to a new summarizing. They're picturing a less tedious Gmail and we're previewing the changes that'll be coming to your inbox soon. Then BYD has replaced Tesla as the world's top electric vehicle seller. It's leading a pack of Chinese automakers whose exports are exceeding expectations. Last year, BYD delivered over a million cars outside China, more than double the previous year's total. We're taking a look at how they beat the odds and what the road ahead could look like. But first, Nicole Nguyen, Wall Street Journal personal tech columnist, has a familiar problem. Thousands and thousands of unread emails cluttering her inbox. Gmail is starting to roll out AI tools that they say can help. So last week, Nicole put her inbox in Gemini's hands and put the new tools to the test. Nicole, what kind of tools is Gmail rolling out and how do they fit into the overall suite of Google's AI tools?

[Nicole Nguyen]

There are a few different buckets, so one bucket of new Gmail tools is a ghostwriter proofreader. Gmail wants you to get in and out of email quickly and people spend something like 20% of their time actually writing emails and the other 80% is just sort of managing the mess. And that 20% they think could be helped by a prompt button called Help me Write that lets you write one sentence or maybe two sentences, a short prompt and then it'll like auto generate the other email formalities. But they are one upping this technology by using generative AI. Also training on your years and years of Gmail data to mimic your voice. So a new feature called Suggested Replies. You'll see in the reply box underneath an email you've received a sort of pre filled out email that it thinks sounds like your voice and what you would say and it can copy your style. And then there's another kind of AI powered feature they're creating this separate inbox called AI Inbox that bubbles up to the top things that it thinks are action items from your email that are important, like forms from your dentist or a vehicle registration renewal notice from the DMV and it'll summarize that email and create a task list for you. And a part of that management suite is also this new kind of way to search. So if I search, for example, what is my shoe size at Ultra, which is like a writing shoe, it'll look through my order history emails in Gmail and then just give me the answer right up at the top.

[Peter Ciampelli]

How do the suggested replies in the Ghostwriter tool differ from the kind of auto responses that people already use in Gmail?

[Nicole Nguyen]

Those are canned. Gmail is using some kind of smarts to serve you those auto replies. But these suggested replies are full fledged emails with the header your outro, nicolism or peterism that you would usually write. When writing emails, it can include relevant information from previous emails. And help me write, which is a different tool than suggested replies, is this little sparkly new pencil that is like an AI chatbot prompt box where you can type something as simple as request a refund from this airline and it'll pre fill those formalities out for you.

[Peter Ciampelli]

One of the most common concerns and complaints that people have with AI tools are the rates of hallucination. Should users be concerned about this with Gmail's tools?

[Nicole Nguyen]

Yes, and I think that's why they're rolling out these tools really slowly and they're testing it with a limited subset of people and then broadening it out to a wider audience. They definitely don't want to break a fundamental communication tool for 3 billion people, which is the size of Gmail's platform.

[Peter Ciampelli]

Who are Gmail's competitors in the AI email arena?

[Nicole Nguyen]

Gmail is definitely the dominant email provider and has been for a long time. But for sure, Outlook is giving Gmail a run for its money. And there are also AI native inboxes from companies like Superhuman and Fixer AI that do all of the things that I've just mentioned already. But they are pricey because they're aimed at a corporate consumer. And so Gmail's rollout of these kinds of features is really compelling because more likely that your mom and your cousin and your colleagues will all start to use these kinds of tools.

[Peter Ciampelli]

That was Wall Street Journal personal tech columnist Nicole Nguyen. In what areas of your daily life do you use AI? If you're a listener on Spotify, let us know in the comments. Coming up, Chinese electric vehicles from companies like BYD are doing big business outside of China. Could the US be their next market? That's after the break.

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[Peter Ciampelli]

Chinese car companies like BYD have gained a stronger foothold in the global auto market over the past few years, especially in the EV market. With pressure to increase exports and a warm reception in the west, sales may only be revving up, but could tariffs and political challenges throw them off course? Wall Street Journal reporter Stephen Wilmot joins us to explain this shifting landscape. Stephen, how did BYD become so popular globally and where is it having the most success?

[Stephen Wilmot]

There have been two waves essentially of Chinese car exports, and the first wave was centered on emerging markets and combustion engines. A few years ago Russia was a big target market. Then last year we got a much more interesting wave of exports and BYD is very much the lead in that. And that's much more high tech, focused on electric vehicles and plug in hybrids. And they've been appealing to Western European consumers, for example, also emerging markets, places like Mexico and Brazil, Australia. They're highly attractive products and they've pitched them at quite affordable prices and consumers are lapping them up where they can.

[Peter Ciampelli]

How did BYD cars become so popular in Europe, and was that a surprise?

[Stephen Wilmot]

It's been a bit of a slow burn. They came to Europe in 2021 and at first they started with a strategy which was perhaps a bit surprisingly focused on almost luxury level prices, but then they kind of have pivoted a bit and last year sales really took off. They brought out newer vehicles in kind of small car categories that Europeans buy a lot of. And so they're competing squarely with the likes of Toyota and Volkswagen, the local market leader.

[Peter Ciampelli]

There's obviously market interest in these EVs, but there's also pressure within China to establish even more of an automotive presence internationally. What is behind China's need to export more this year than they did last year?

[Stephen Wilmot]

There's massive overcapacity in the Chinese car industry. EVs have been a kind of priority sector, strategic sector in Beijing, and that's led to a lot of EV startups and a lot of competition within China. And so BYD has been doing rather less well in China. So they have a lot more production capacity than they have demand for, and that's created pressure to export overall vehicle exports from China, which is already, since 2023, the world's largest car exporter, rose to over 7 million vehicles.

[Peter Ciampelli]

And China has unique political challenges too, throughout the world that are putting up some barriers. What have their efforts been to expand in Europe and the us? What have those look like?

[Stephen Wilmot]

Yeah, that's a very good point. And absolutely the barriers are political. There have been tariffs, not just in the US but also in a number of other countries, including the European Union, that have increased the price of cars imported from China for consumers in the European Union, interestingly, they only imposed the tariffs on electric vehicles, which meant that actually BYD in particular pivoted towards plug in hybrids, which weren't covered by the tariffs. In the us There isn't a market for Chinese cars. The US is the one country that really has so far kept them out. It's not just due to very high tariffs, but also the rhetoric against Chinese cars from Washington. And there's a rule that was enacted in the final years of the Biden administration called the Connected Vehicle Rule, which essentially bans Chinese software from cars. That makes it very hard for them to gear up for a market entry, though some still are talking about entering the market, presumably by leveraging local software providers. But it's still a bit unclear, and.

[Peter Ciampelli]

There'S some indications that there's a path forward, specifically in the U.S. what is the latest on that?

[Stephen Wilmot]

President Trump said in Detroit this month that Chinese automakers were welcome as long as they built in the U.S. the challenge, of course, for automakers is it's much easier for them to build a brand presence through exports initially and then build a factory, rather than trying to set up initially by building a factory. That's a very high risk kind of investment. So exactly how appealing that will be for the likes of BYD remains to be seen.

[Peter Ciampelli]

And have Tesla or any of the EV leaders responded to the competition or responded specifically to BYD's growth?

[Stephen Wilmot]

They're responding everywhere. I mean, in the European market, the rise of Chinese cars is the trend that every local automaker is watching. They're trying to match what they call China speed to shorten their development cycles, to lower their costs, to essentially try and match the advances that the Chinese have made in the U.S. ford is talking a lot about trying to match the Chinese technology and costs. Even without Chinese cars in the us, there's partly a sense that it's inevitable eventually that they'll have to compete head to head, even if the time frame isn't entirely clear.

[Peter Ciampelli]

That was Wall Street Journal reporter Stephen Wilm and That's it for Tech News Briefing. If you're a listener on Spotify, be sure to leave us a comment. Today's show is produced by Julie Chang. I'm your host. Peter Ciampelli. Jessica Fenton and Michael Lavalle wrote our theme music. Our supervising producer is Katie Ferguson. Jessica Fenton is our technical manager. Our development producer is Aisha Al Muslim. Chris Zinsley is the deputy editor. And Falana Patterson is the Wall Street Journal's head of news audio. We'll be back later this morning with TNB Tech Minute. Thanks for listening.