Recently, regarding BYD's lawsuit against Yao *qiang (Douyin account "Daqin Jun Shaan Tuan"), BYD's Legal Department announced a favorable verdict in the case. On January 22, BYD's Legal Department issued an announcement disclosing that the court ruled that the defendant fabricated and spread false information about Fangchengbao vehicles, damaging the commercial goodwill and product reputation of BYD and the Fangchengbao brand, constituting commercial defamation. The defendant Yao *qiang was ordered to compensate BYD Company 2.01 million yuan. Subsequently, Li Yunfei, General Manager of BYD Group's Brand and Public Relations Department, reposted the announcement and stated: "All along, we have been the biggest victim of black public relations and black water armies! We accept media criticism and oversight, but when it comes to black public relations and black media that fabricate false information, maliciously spread rumors, and smear and attack, we will never tolerate it, we will pursue it to the end, and we will never condone it!"
Previously at a public event, Li Yunfei also made his position clear: "Given BYD's current position and scale, if media report and criticize based on objective facts, there is no problem at all! If some media do not understand the situation, or publish some misleading content, we can also accept that! But when it comes to black public relations and black media that smear for the sake of smearing, that have long targeted BYD and denigrated BYD, we will never tolerate it!"
In December 2023, when the Fangchengbao Bao 5 was launched, Yao *qiang posted a video through the Douyin account "Daqin Jun Shaan Tuan," claiming that he tested the Fangchengbao model Bao 5 in a normal driving manner and concluded that its fuel consumption was 18 liters per 100 kilometers, which sparked widespread attention and discussion online. Later, at the request of police for investigation and evidence collection, BYD retrieved data showing that the vehicle exhibited a large number of abnormal driving behaviors on the day of the test: during highway driving, there were 3 periods when the vehicle speed exceeded 180 km/h, and 6 periods when the vehicle speed exceeded 170 km/h. During the entire highway driving process, the proportion of time in the 120-140 km/h range exceeded 37%, the proportion in the 140-160 km/h range exceeded 46%, and the proportion exceeding 160 km/h exceeded 4%.
Some observant netizens discovered that during the test the vehicle's air conditioning temperature was set to the highest, and even the windows were opened while driving, while at the same time he served as the dean of a certain automaker's desert academy. "Yao Shiba" has already had penalties deducted by traffic police in multiple places including Inner Mongolia and Shaanxi, with cumulative deductions exceeding 12 points.
In the face of baseless smearing, BYD and Fangchengbao Automobile adopted rational measures on two parallel tracks: on one hand, they firmly safeguarded the brand's lawful rights and interests through legal channels. In May 2024, BYD issued an announcement stating that it had decided to formally file a lawsuit against the blogger "Yao *qiang," demanding a public apology and 5 million yuan in compensation.
On the other hand, Fangchengbao Automobile has consistently demonstrated the hard strength of its products through technical trials. Its model Bao 5 successively achieved multiple major milestones—not only completing a solo single-vehicle crossing of the Tazhong N39 no-man's land, but also setting a Guinness World Record of 5,980.05 meters for the "highest altitude reached by driving a hybrid vehicle," reinforcing its position as a benchmark in electric-drive off-road technology with extreme performance.
The "Yao Shiba" infringement case is not an isolated incident, but rather a microcosm of the online infringement BYD has suffered over the long term. According to incomplete industry statistics, as a leading enterprise in the new energy vehicle sector, BYD has in recent years become one of the main targets of attacks by "black public relations" and "black media" in the automotive industry online. A commentary published by Xinhua News Agency on November 17 pointed even more directly to the industry's pain points, criticizing chaos such as "stepping on peers" and "making veiled jabs at rival companies," and clearly stating that irrational competition in the auto circle not only misleads consumers' decisions, but also diverts enterprises' R&D investment and hinders the high-quality development of the industry.
On January 15, Fangchengbao Automobile announced that the brand's cumulative sales had exceeded 300,000 vehicles, making it not only among the top 2 new force brands to reach 300,000 vehicles the fastest, but also the No. 1 new force brand in the 200,000-300,000 vehicle range by growth rate.
Despite facing continuous online smearing, the "new king of off-roading," the Bao 5, still achieved countertrend growth amid much denigration. It was not only the hardcore off-road sales champion in December 2025, but also the hardcore off-road sales champion for 2025, with sales performance remaining steady. This court victory is not only a powerful defense of BYD's lawful rights and interests, but also a heavy blow against the chaos of black public relations in the automotive industry, drawing a legal red line for the industry that "speech has boundaries and rumor-mongering entails responsibility."
