BYD gives its cars a dragon face

How a former Audi design chief gave a battery maker's cars a common face

On 17 April 2017, at its annual gala in the Shanghai Oriental Sports Center, BYD showed a prototype SUV called Dynasty, created by its new design director Wolfgang Egger.¹ The company described the car's dragon-inspired exterior as drawing on China's cultural heritage.¹ Within a year, the front end of that concept had a name, Dragon Face, and was spreading across the range of a carmaker whose earlier models had been noted for their technology rather than their design.²

A designer from Audi

BYD announced the hire in November 2016, giving Egger the role of director of design.³ He arrived with a long European record. Egger began his professional career in 1989, became chief designer of Alfa Romeo in 1993, led design at SEAT from 1998 and returned to Alfa Romeo in 2001, where his work included the 8C Competizione.⁴ In May 2007 he succeeded Walter de Silva as head of Audi Group design, responsible for Audi and Lamborghini, a post he left in December 2013.⁴

At the 2017 gala, Egger framed the move in terms of identity. "Joining BYD provides an opportunity to help a young brand develop its design DNA as it looks to expand its global footprint," he said, speaking as BYD design director.¹

The Dynasty prototype

The Dynasty was the first car Egger drew for BYD.² Gasgoo described a front intake that looked like a big mouth with dots in it and LED lamps arranged in three T-shaped layouts, and presented the concept as a statement of the brand's future design language.⁵ CarNewsChina singled out the light unit, which carried the BYD logo in its centre.² "This concept vehicle will take BYD's consumer vehicles in an exciting new direction," Egger said.¹ The car then appeared at the Shanghai Auto Show that month.⁶

From concept to showroom

The first production car to carry the new look was the Song Max, a seven-seat MPV that reached the Chinese market in September 2017 at prices from 79,900 to 119,900 yuan.⁷ CarNewsChina reported that BYD called the front end "Dragon Face" and that it would appear on other new models.⁷ The large, shiny grille no longer carried the BYD badge in its centre; it showed the Song name instead.⁷

The second-generation Tang SUV followed at Auto China in Beijing in April 2018, previewed by the Dynasty concept.⁸ Its front used the Dragon Face formula of a large radiator grille flanked by slim LED headlamps, and the production car did not depart much from the concept.⁶ A single face now connected an MPV, an SUV and a show car, giving different body types a shared front end.

Dragon Face 2.0 and the electric version

At the Shanghai Auto Show in April 2019, BYD showed the E-SEED GT concept, which Egger developed with JuanMa Lopez and Michele Jauch-Paganetti.⁹ BYD said the car translated the elements of a Chinese dragon into a supercar: headlights resembling "dragon whiskers", a "dragon ridge" on the roof, tail and seats, and "dragon-scale" door panels.⁹ The Song Pro SUV at the same show used an updated "Dragon Face 2.0".⁹

The Han sedan, on sale in China from July 2020, is the first BYD electric car with an EV version of Dragon Face.^10,11 Slit-like headlamps flow into a chrome front lip that takes the place of a grille.¹¹ BYD describes the Han's styling as inspired by thousands of years of Chinese culture, with a distinctive front grille and "Dragon Claw" taillights.¹²

Explaining the face to Europe

When BYD announces prices for its first European passenger cars in September 2022, Egger, now titled global designer, explains the design in the same terms. "The BYD design is expressive and emotional, as well as clean and relevant," he says, adding that for the Han and Tang "we were inspired by the dragon face, a strong character in Chinese culture".¹³ In the Atto 3, he adds, the dragon's moustache, skin and eyes are all portrayed.¹³

By February 2023 Egger's team works from a 12,600 square metre global design centre at BYD's Shenzhen headquarters, with more than 600 designers from over 10 countries.¹⁴ Chairman and president Wang Chuanfu describes the role of design: "Technology is BYD's hard strength, and design will become the soft strength of the company."¹⁴ Egger himself confirms the timeline: "I came to BYD in 2016 as I was attracted by the opportunity at the company."¹⁴

Ocean and Loong

The dragon is not BYD's only theme. For the Ocean series, Egger chooses the term "Ocean Aesthetics"; on the Dolphin, the lights evoke dolphins leaping from water and the interior door handles are shaped like fins.¹⁵ On the Dynasty side, the face keeps evolving. When the Tang L and Han L are released in January 2025, they use a new generation of Loong Face, the new name for Dragon Face, with a three-dimensional chrome element called the Dragon Mustache that adds visual width.¹⁶ Egger, described as BYD chief designer, presents the two cars as carriers of Chinese culture.¹⁶