BYD has set another record month of production and sales, despite the recent impact of lockdowns and logistics in the world’s biggest car market. This is looking promising as it continues to move forward with launching its ground-up EVs in more overseas markets including Australia.
New sales data from BYD shows the growth that the company is aiming for. We take a look at why these EV production trends are important for prospective Australian EV buyers in 2022.
BYD continues to defy odds in May 2022
In April this year, BYD sold over 106,000 cars, which was a new record for the company. That was despite the lockdowns that many of the EV makers in China faced. May sales data has just been released and it shows another record month with 114,943 sales for the month.
That is an 8.4% increase over April 2022 and a 250% increase compared to May, 2021. This is good news for many Australian EV buyers who are looking at getting their hands on an affordable EV.
The BYD plants did not see a similar slowdown in production as that experienced by Tesla, which lost over 50,000 cars during the Shanghai shutdown.
That shutdown ensured that most Australian Tesla deliveries were pushed into the second half of 2022. BYD’s factories are scattered across China and a localised shutdown did not have the same effect on their production.
BYD Atto 3 production ramps up as Australian launch gets closer
Recently, I touched on the growing demand for affordable EVs in Australia. Many affordable EVs for sale are being snapped up quite quickly.
The Atto 3 is one of the more affordable EVs that is expected to break this drought. BYD Yuan Plus EV (Atto3 in Australia) production and sales ramp is starting to happen too with 13.9% increase in May 2022 over April.
For comparison, it’s grown over fivefold since January this year. This is quite remarkable for this first Australian bound model.
And there are likely to be more on the way: in April, it was also announced that a planned EV factory is in the works in Thailand that could produce future right-hand drive EVs for the Asia Pacific region.
Affordable EVs on the way
The interest and demand for EVs in Australia is at an all time high. With rising fuel prices, lack of affordable models, few options in the used EV market and no fuel emission standards assisting is preventing more affordable EVs in Australia. BYD and MG are set to change that.
BYD Atto 3 and the new MG ZS EV in 2022 will bring a level of affordability and technology yet to be seen in our market. First deliveries of the Atto 3 and the MG ZS EV are expected to arrive in the next 3 months.
EVs like these and more popular ones like Tesla Model 3 will keep us on track to decarbonise Australian transport.
Riz is the founder of carloop based in Melbourne, specialising in Australian EV data, insight reports and trends. He is a mechanical engineer who spent the first 7 years of his career building transport infrastructure before starting carloop. He has a passion for cars, particularly EVs and wants to help reduce transport emissions in Australia. He currently drives a red Tesla Model 3.