There's a tendency for car industry watchers to view the rapid UK progress of leading Chinese marques as some kind of unearned overnight success, predicated on their ability to sell advanced cars at lower prices than anyone else.

There is an element of truth to this, not least the recognition decades ago by China's long-termist government that the global electrified car market would be a prime target for future domination and its unswerving efforts ever since to create the conditions for high-achieving companies to succeed. But the recent, increasingly impressive progress of Chinese car companies towards this lofty ambition - with Tesla-beating BYD nowadays most prominent of them all - disguises the years of sweat and toil, reverses, failures, mistakes and blind alleys strewn along the potholed path to success.

The experiences of Bono Ge, BYD's UK general manager - who in September last year proudly announced that the UK had become the biggest market for BYD products outside China - show what it takes. It was he who established BYD UK back in 2011, a point at which he cheerfully recalls that "he knew nothing about cars".

Last year, the company sold 50,000-odd cars here, around six times the 2024 volume. Ge is exaggeratedly careful to make no forecast for 2026 but, considering the half-dozen new models that are imminent (both for the mainstream BYD and Denza premium brands), an informed bystander might expect the company to be in six-figure territory by 2027 at the latest. At that stage it will have beaten Toyota, be directly threatening the likes of Hyundai and Kia and have Ford and BMW squarely in its sights.

Ge joined BYD straight from university in 2008 and got involved in its then mainstream business of batteries, buses and battery storage - until he moved to Europe with a taskforce of a dozen other young graduates recruited to help the company expand in foreign parts.

They succeeded with batteries and buses (Transport for London nowadays operates some 2800 BYD electric buses). But an initial attempt to establish an indifferent electric car called the E6 in partnership with the taxi company Green Tomato from 2013 was cancelled before it even got going.

Ge spent his time on energy storage systems around Europe but moved back to the UK when BYD decided to get serious about selling cars here again, because the market was getting more interested in electrification and it felt it had better products for the job.

The opening strategy was to land a variety of BYD cars at a test track in Spain, then invite dealers (especially dealer group chiefs) to come and sample them. The feedback was positive, although BYD people soon realised they had a lot to learn. Distribution and compliance would be complicated. European buyers found the cars too big in the rear and too short on boot space. They were bamboozled by smart digital features that the Chinese were used to. Adapted designs were needed.

Europe wasn't just one entity but up to 30 different sales regions; car specifications would have to vary. Demand was different according to nationality, too. Potential dealers wanted to know how BYD would build its brand.

"We were the biggest brand nobody had ever heard of," recalls Ge. "What were we going to do about it? We did some advertising on TV, but most of all we set about gathering as much data as we could find. We also tried to find and listen to good advice."

Ge says that people kept telling him the UK market was the most open in Europe, which is how it has worked out: "When we came, we noticed that a lot of Asian companies had established their HQs here, and the reasons were soon obvious. Buyers are open-minded, are interested in new stuff and are attracted by value for money. It isn't so straightforward in Germany and France."

BYD's UK expansion has been explosive over the past three years, but Ge feels quite a lot of things can be done better. Its dealer network of 130 sites needs to be expanded faster. Ge and his big boss, Stella Li, who runs the entire BYD operation outside China, wants 160 UK dealers in place by the end of this year.

"Still, one thing we've done quite well is to communicate the right story," says Ge. "People see us as a technology brand."

There are plenty of challenges to come. One of the meatiest is to launch the Denza premium brand: its Z9 GT, a Porsche Taycan rival, is nearing debut and there may well be two more models this year. Denza is Audi to BYD's Volkswagen, says Ge, so its own volume could be substantial. And then there's the Yangwang premium brand (he pronounces it Yongwong) in the frame after that, although it's not yet clear whether that marque will be seen here in 2026.

One thing is for sure: BYD and its sister brands are changing the UK's car landscape for good, like it or lump it.

I ask Ge the delicate question: what does he make of being cast as someone who is overturning the prospects of much-loved European marques, almost an enemy? He sighs. Clearly this isn't the first time the matter has been raised. "Today we live in a global market that's very dynamic," he says. "It changes shape all the time and you have to expect it. We can't go back 50 years: it wouldn't work. Besides, people in the UK are open-minded and they like a free market. Our products aren't the cheapest going, but they are great value. It's the customer's choice.