Yet it will not be the logos of BMW or German rivals including Volkswagen or Mercedes-Benz plastered on stadiums or television coverage. Instead, China’s BYD is the only carmaker to sponsor Europe’s premier international tournament.

BYD’s roots as a battery maker appear to have given it an important manufacturing advantage. Rhodium’s Sebastian said vertical integration – owning the supply chain rather than buying parts from elsewhere – had given it “a lot of control over costs”.

Tu Le, the managing director of Sino Auto Insights, a consultancy, highlighted its ownership of computer chip factories as well as its batteries. And “they have scale”, he added, predicting 4m car sales this year – about half pure electric and half hybrid. “There is no one close to building as many clean energy vehicles as BYD.”

And where other carmakers have focused on long-range batteries containing expensive nickel, manganese and cobalt (NMC), BYD has pioneered the use of the cheaper lithium iron phosphate (LFP) chemistry.

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