BYD has criticised the UK’s new electric car subsidy scheme designed to keep out Chinese brands as “stupid”, warning that the discounts would work like a “drug” that will hurt the country’s market over the longer term.

In an interview with the Financial Times, BYD’s executive vice-president Stella Li, who oversees the carmaker’s international expansion, predicted BYD’s sales would not be affected by the UK government policy some executives have dubbed “backdoor Chinese tariffs”. She also pledged to create more than 5,000 UK jobs through dealerships by next year as part of its expansion policy in Europe.

The UK government last week announced a ￡650mn grant incentivising customers to purchase battery cars, with each model assessed according to the emissions of the electricity grid in the country or countries of critical production stages, essentially excluding vehicles made in China.