BYD, one of the fastest-growing car companies in the world, has just revealed the pace at which it is manufacturing its cheapest EV on the market.
The Seagull electric hatchback has just reached 1 million in sales in just over two years since its unveiling to the world. It is a car that shocked many of the automotive industry executives from legacy automotive companies, mainly due to its starting price equivalent to around $A16,000.
At an event in China covered by Thinkercar on X, the company announced this major milestone, highlighting the scale of its manufacturing capabilities.
As mentioned earlier, the BYD Seagull was launched at the Shanghai auto show in April 2023. It was then reportedly the star of that show, raking in thousands of orders in only a few days of being there.
The company began deliveries of the vehicle in its home market of China and just six months later, still in 2023, had produced 200,000.
That achievement made the BYD Seagull one of the fastest-selling electric cars in the market.
According to data compiled by CNC for that year, the BYD Dolphin Mini was the company’s best-selling electric car, making up for over 280,000 sales in 2023.
In 2024, BYD upped the sales of the Seagull further in China, with over 360,000 units sold during the year.
Over the same period in the year, the company started selling this model in the South American market.
This year, the export market continued to expand for the Seagull, with the company’s eyes set on the European market.
In April, reports surfaced of 9,000 units of the models leaving a port in Shanghai on board two RoRo vehicle carrier ships to be sold in various left-hand and right-hand drive markets.
Since then, the brand has officially launched the models in those markets, including the right-hand-drive market of the UK as the Dolphin Surf.
That model has grown in size by 210 mm for the European market, coming in just shy of 4 metres at 3,990 mm in length.
The overall height has also gone up by 50 mm, with the car now standing 1,590 mm tall, which is likely to provide additional headroom for the front and rear passengers.
From all accounts, it appears that BYD is continuing to expand it’s operation into multiple markets with this model.
Having driven this car on multiple occasions in China in recent months, it’s definitely one that would do well in our local market.
At this stage, no plans have been confirmed for whether the Seagull would make it to the Australian market, but we will be monitoring the situation closely, given what a car like the Seagull could do for affordable EVs in Australia and accelerate the transition for so many more drivers across the country.
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.