The bet with everything BYD by the electric car is beginning to bear fruit. And it is that we cannot forget that a year has not yet passed since the Chinese brand decided to abandon the production of cars with a combustion engine, to focus on the electric and plug-in hybrids. A movement classified as absurd at the time, which has now been shown to be most successful.
And it is that BYD’s sales figures do not stop skyrocketing in each quarter. In this that we are about to close, the preliminary data indicate that the Asian manufacturer will grow around 80% year-on-year. A striking number in itself, but even more so if we take into account the weak start to the year for car sales in China.
According to the data, the Chinese company sold 286,329 vehicles in the first quarter of 2022. With an increase of more than 80% in this first quarter of 2023, it would mean reaching at least the 515,400 units counting pure electric and plug-in hybrids.
This would place BYD as the number one car manufacturer in China, and with 316,417 units in January-February and a total share of 11.8%the brand has been the most popular in sales in China, surpassing the consortium formed by the local brand FAW and Volkswagen, which have placed second with 221,946 units, and Changan, which has achieved 209,825 units.
Some data that would put the plans of the president of BYD on the right path, who in a meeting with investors has indicated that they want to make the brand the one with the highest sales volume in China this year.
In the meeting with investors, the president of BYD has expressed his opinion on the recent price war between manufacturers in China. According to the manager, this originates from the fact that supply is exceeding demandwhich will have the consequence that some car brands will gradually disappear while others will gain a greater market share.
A price war that the Chinese manager has indicated has not come to an end, and as long as there is greater supply than demand, prices will continue to drop to capture those sales.
The president of BYD has also had time to talk about the expansion of the brand outside of China, indicating that it will focus mainly on Europe, Australia and Southeast Asia, but that they are not considering starting sales in the United States at the moment.
