Formerly known as Xi'an Qinchuan, Byd Automobile Company was set up in early 2003 when mobile phone battery maker, Byd acquired 77 per cent of equity shares.
Originally the Qinchuan Machinery Factory first ventured into automobiles back in the mid-1980s with copies of the Honda Today and the Fiat 126. In 1992 the factory was among the few companies which introduced licence-produced Suzuki Alto. This version was called the Qinchuan QCJ 7080.
The company's first self-developed model, called Flyer (QCJ 7081B) was introduced in 2001. About 20000 were made in 2003 as Byd is restructuring the company.