BYD has been one of the fastest-growing brands in the automotive industry in recent years. But its April sales data shows a slowdown in sales.
BYD new energy vehicle (NEV) sales which include pure battery electric and plug-in hybrids (PHEV), amounted to 209,467, according to the company’s sales report, which is only slightly up from company’s March sales of 207,080 vehicles. Out of these, BYD exported 14,827 to overseas markets, including Australia.
However, year on year, sales have doubled with the April number a 98% increase in sales compared to the same period last year.
The BYD Atto 3 (Yuan Plus) saw 39,160 sales which happens to be one of BYD’s signature products for export market like ours in Australia. Other new models in the line-up included in April sales were:
- BYD Seal – all-electric sedan
- BYD Dolphin facelift – hatchback
- BYD Seagull – micro city car
During April, BYD sold 6,212 Seal sedans after offering discounts on the model. In comparison, every day, Tesla produces over 1,000 Tesla Model 3 just from its Shanghai factory.
The BYD Dolphin hatchback did quite well in the local market with 30,462 sales in April. BYD has really ramped up the sales of the more affordable Dolphin as the local market seeks to find more affordable options.
Then most recently at the Shanghai auto show, BYD launched the Seagull city micro car which starts at the equivalent of $A17,100 and goes up to $A20,790. BYD sold 1,500 units in April with thousands of Seagull pre-orders to be followed.
The Seagull is expected to become one of the brand’s top-selling cars in China.
No plans for exporting the micro city car have been announced but given BYD’s recent European and South-East Asia expansion, it could very well end up in markets like The Netherlands and Thailand later this year.
Earlier this year, the BYD Seal sedan was spotted in Australia with expectations that this model will launch in Australia later in 2023.
It’s yet to be confirmed when this might be as in other markets like the UK, BYD is starting with launching the Atto 3 and the Dolphin hatchback.
BYD sales have continued to rise in recent times but with uncertain economic conditions ahead, the pace of growth has slowed as seen in April’s sales.
The company does have an aggressive export plan with its recent launch in the right-hand-drive market of the UK. We hope to see more exports from the brand in the coming months along with an increase in BYD Seagull sales as its production ramp continues.
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.