Big BYD Dealer Network Collapses — What Is Going On?

A big, important BYD dealer network in eastern China has just imploded. Note that the dealer network is a completely separate company. Also, they are providing different accounts of who is to blame.

The dealer network is Shandong Qiancheng Holdings Co., Ltd. (山东乾城控股有限公司). It was the main dealer network for BYD in the province of Shandong, founded in 2014. BYD Chairman, CEO, and founder Wang Chuanfu visited the Qiancheng Group in Jinan just last April (2024). However, since last month, April 2025, locations have been unexpectedly closing, and they’ve been ghosting customers. “More than twenty ‘Qian’-branded 4S dealerships across the province have abruptly closed or suspended operations, leaving showrooms empty and customers without service,” CarNewsChina reports. Interesting, CarNewsChina‘s source seems to have taken down their article, and a web archive is now linked.

One of those stores, in Jinan Qiansheng, was once considered “Greater China’s No.1 flagship store of BYD.” Well, the location is still somewhat open, but with only two staffers in service.

“The crisis has directly impacted over a thousand consumers who had prepaid for various services, including ‘three-year joint insurance’ packages, maintenance plans, window tinting, chassis protection, and promised lifetime maintenance services. Many customers have organised rights protection groups to seek collective solutions. […]

“Since April 2025, numerous customers who advanced their second—or third-year insurance payments have not received their promised refunds, only to discover that the dealerships have been abandoned.”

Some staff are even worse off, reportedly not being paid for up to 6 months.

Shandong Qiancheng is blaming BYD. BYD is blaming Shandong Qiancheng.

Shandong Qiancheng says that it’s in this financial crisis because of a “broken capital chain” and dealer policy adjustments. “In the past two years, BYD’s dealer policy adjustments have placed enormous pressure on our cash flow management,” it states. The company also states that the automotive dealer market is not in a good spot broadly, and complained about conservative bank financing policies. BYD, however, says:

• “Our policies toward dealers have remained consistent and stable over the past few years.”
•  It’s dealer management failures that have led to Shandong Qiancheng’s financial collapse.
• “The dealer group experienced funding problems due to blind, rapid expansion with leveraged operations.”

Hmm … it’s a clear case of “he said, she said.”

Coming back to BYD, many customers are of the opinion that BYD should do more to prevent this kind of thing from happening and to resolve the issues. I don’t really see that. They are separate companies. If BYD was playing the role of dealer as well, then that’s one thing, but it has clearly decided that’s not its business.

Some other dealer networks have come in and started buying the abandoned stores and service centers, while also trying to resolve customer issues. It seems that’s the natural way to get past this issue. As far as broader consumer protection, well, I certainly don’t know the laws of the country or what’s expected. Also, it is truly unfortunate that there are currently thousands of customers struggling with what to do. Hopefully they find a satisfactory resolution.