BYD wins appeal against blogger, court orders apology after 293,000 USD verdict

BYD was involved in a Chinese online defamation case following a second-instance court ruling ordering EV blogger “Long Ge Talks EVs” to apologise and pay 2 million yuan (293,000 USD), according to Ifeng.

The blogger published an apology video this week, stating that a second-instance judgment had been issued in the lawsuit involving BYD and accounts linked to “Managedian New Energy.” In the video, the blogger said that previous content discussing repairs to BYD’s battery, motor, and electric-control systems included “improper remarks” that negatively affected BYD’s reputation.

The court found that the disputed content originated from videos published under the “Long Ge Talks EVs” and related accounts, in which the blogger discussed BYD vehicles during repair cases. The videos included claims about the battery, motor, and electric-control systems that lacked verified technical evidence and were deemed to contain unverified claims about BYD’s vehicle systems.

Second-instance ruling

The court found that the defendants fabricated and spread false information about BYD, damaging the company’s commercial and product reputations. The ruling ordered the defendants to stop the infringement, eliminate the impact, publicly apologise, and compensate BYD 2 million yuan (293,000 USD).

The ruling relates to proceedings first disclosed in December 2025, when BYD said it had received a first-instance judgment in its favour. The company’s legal department stated that accounts including “Long Ge Talks EVs” and “Managedian New Energy Auto Repair” had published content on platforms such as Douyin and WeChat Channels that was later found to be false or misleading.

Multiple automaker lawsuits

The ruling follows other defamation-related cases involving Chinese automakers and online creators, including disputes involving BYD, Great Wall Motor and XPeng.

The blogger also faced additional litigation involving Seres and Aito-branded vehicles, with Chinese media reports citing a separate court ruling ordering compensation of 160,000 yuan (23,000 USD).

BYD brand and public relations general manager Li Yunfei said on social media in earlier comments that the company accepted objective criticism and factual reporting, but would continue using legal measures against what he described as fabricated or defamatory online content.

BYD sales context

BYD global EV sales reached 314,100 units in April 2026, according to China EV DataTracker data. The figure rose 6.2% from March but fell 15.7% year-on-year. March sales totalled 295,639 units, while December 2025 reached 414,784 units.

Updated: 17/05/2026 19:00 China time