BYD plans to overtake Tesla and become top 5 car brand in Australia

Chinese car maker BYD has thrown down the gauntlet to global EV rival Tesla, and the world’s legacy car companies, by flagging massive expansion plans in Australia as part of its goal to become one of the top 5 car brands in the country.

BYD says details of its expansion will be released soon, but they will include an additional 30 retail stores in Australia in the next 18 months as it ramps up its offerings of EVs, and adds the Dolphin and Seal and two other models to the already top-selling Atto 3.

The “lofty” goal to be a top-5 car brand in Australia was revealed by Luke Todd, the CEO of its local distributor EV Direct.

“Since launching in Australia EVDirect and BYD have demonstrated a streamlined supply chain which has resulted in unparalleled price points for their quality product range and strong supply capabilities. Under the new arrangements, the supply chain will be even stronger,” he said in a statement.

The Atto 3 has sold more than 12,000 units and is the third best selling EV in Australia behind the Model Y and the Model 3, and Tesla still dominates the EV market with a near 60 per cent share.

In total sales, BYD barely gets into the top 20 withs sales of just over 9,000 in 2023 to date, but a top 5 position would propel it above Tesla and compete with the likes of Ford, Hyundai and Kia. It would require an eight-fold increase in sales.

The fine details of the expansion plan will be released by Liu Xueliang, BYD Auto’s general manager of its Asia Pacific automobile sales division, at an event next Monday.

According to the company, the expansion plans have been in the works for many months and were confirmed on the back of the  success of the BYD Dolphin release and the more recent launch of the BYD Seal.

BYD has announced that as part of the latest commitment, it plans to hold additional stock of EVs in Australia. It also intends to expand its EV models to at leat five over the next year.

“The launch of BYD has been the most successful new Automotive brand launch in Australian history but we are just getting started,” Todd said.

“Since day one we’ve been committed to bringing the best quality electric vehicles to Australia at affordable prices. We have demonstrated this as we now have three high quality EV’s on the market all priced under $50,000.

“Under the new arrangements our supply chain will be further enhanced allowing us to reach even more customers and introduce an even wider range of models.

“What we are seeing is customers still waiting for supply of vehicles with other brands and therefore it is our belief this announcement is great news for Australian consumers with BYD having 5 models’ deliverable by 2024.”

This is great news for drivers in Australia as more models become available in the coming 12 months along with an increased supply of the existing popular models which include the Atto 3 SUV, Dolphin hatchback and the Seal sedan.