Chinese electric-vehicle (EV) maker BYD expects exports to make up about 20% of its global sales this year, spurred by improved logistics and new model launches. The Shenzhen-based carmaker forecasts 800,000 to 1 million deliveries outside mainland China in 2025, compared with projected total sales of 4.6 million units, said Li Yunfei, General Manager of Branding and Public Relations. In 2024, BYD’s sales outside mainland China accounted for less than 10% of its total of 4.26 million deliveries. Li said BYD’s own fleet of car-carrier ships supported the export surge. The carmaker now has eight large vessels, the largest of which can transport 9,200 vehicles. The ships ply ocean routes connecting China with major overseas markets such as Europe and Southeast Asia.
BYD is also expanding its line-up of vehicles for overseas markets by introducing all of its China-developed cars to international buyers. The company planned to double showrooms in Europe to 2,000 in 2026 and aimed to create a complete local supply chain for its European production, Stella Li, Executive Vice President, said on the sidelines of the IAA Mobility in Munich earlier this month. BYD’s assembly plant in Hungary, with an annual capacity of 150,000 units, is expected to start production early next year, Li Yunfei said. The company also operates factories in Thailand and Brazil.
Chinese carmakers, led by BYD, are at the vanguard of EV technology and production, buoyed by government support and consumers’ willingness to embrace new innovations, according to analysts. Chinese-made EVs featuring high-performance batteries, sophisticated in-car entertainment systems and preliminary self-driving software are increasingly popular around the globe thanks to their attractive prices.
BYD’s projected sales outside mainland China this year would beat an ambitious target Beijing set in its Made in China 2025 industrial strategy, which was first unveiled in 2015. The central government hoped the country’s top two EV makers, which it did not name, could sell more than 10% of their cars to markets abroad. BYD's second-quarter deliveries outside mainland China jumped 145% from a year earlier to 258,182, a rise of 25.3% from the previous quarter.
Overseas sales accounted for 22.5% of the total in the three months to June. Controlled by billionaire Wang Chuanfu, the company is one of the four mainland EV builders that have become profitable, in a playing field where around 50 companies are competing, the South China Morning Post reports.
