Tesla’s price cuts have started to put pressure on China’s BYD, which has responded with big discounts on its Seal electric sedan which is competing with the Tesla Model 3 in China.
The latest discounts in the intensifying price war between the world’s two biggest electric car makers were announced on BYD’s Weibo social media account.
They started on April 7 and are due to last for a month, and offer a combined discount of 31,000 RMB, or $A6,760, to customers looking at purchasing the BYD Seal over other electric sedans.
The discount can be broken into $A3,230 cash discount, a $A1,310 trade-in offer and an interest-free loan according to an analysis by cnevpost.
This discount offer in April seems to be on the back of what was offered for the BYD Seal in March this year as well.
During March, the BYD Seal was eligible for $A1,920 discount which has been bumped up significantly for April.
The BYD Seal starts at the equivalent of just over $A46,230 in China, so a combined discount of $A6,760 will bring this electric sedan under $A40,000. For comparison, a Tesla Model 3 RWD starts at the equivalent of $A50,130.
In China, there are bigger issues the automotive industry is facing with over-stocked dealers of ICE vehicles having a very difficult time moving those vehicles on.
On the back of that, the cleaner NEVs that BYD manufactures are facing a challenging time as well with dipping demand.
The BYD Seal was launched last year in July and has since been announced for multiple global markets.
Earlier this year, a right-hand-drive version of the BYD Seal was spotted on the back of a truck in Sydney hinting at its eventual launch in the Australian market.
BYD so far in Australia has sold 4,211 of its Atto 3 electric SUVs which would make it Australia’s second best-selling SUV after the Tesla Model Y.
BYD doubled its EV sales in March with plans to become the NEV leader in China.
With BYD Seal demand looking to be lowered in China, BYD may have to fast-track its plans to sell more of its EVs in right-hand-drive markets like Australia, New Zealand, Thailand & the UK.
Taking shipping and local delivery costs into consideration, a ground-up EV like the BYD Seal that is priced around $A52,000 will do quite well as it would be eligible for various state and territory incentives.
There has been plenty of interest from The Driven’s readers about the Seal electric sedan so it would be good to see movement on its potential local launch later in 2023.
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.