BYD sales growth stutter after price war kicks off in world’s biggest market

Chinese new energy vehicle manufacturer BYD has released sales data for the month of May, with 382,476 units sold, a year-on-year increase of 15.3 per cent, but only a sub-1 per cent increase over April.

In terms of battery electric vehicles (BEVs), BYD saw sales reach 204,369 for May, up 39.6 per cent from a year earlier, but only up 4.4 per cent from April. This nevertheless means that BEVs accounted for over 50 per cent of all NEV sales in May.

While total sales for May were basically the same as April, the number of those cars which were sold overseas skyrocketed, increasing to 88,640, up 133.6 per cent from May 2024, according to BYD.

Through the first five months of 2025, BYD has now sold 1,763,369 cars, and brings the company’s all-time cumulative sale of NEV to 12.3 million.

The lacklustre May numbers did not help the company’s already slippery stock price, which has fallen by nearly 20 per cent on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange over the last 10 days, coming off the back of dramatic price cuts to several car models in China.

As was reported last week, BYD has cut prices on many models by anywhere between 10 to 30 per cent.