BYD passes 300,000 electric-car sales in a month for the first time

BYD sold 305,743 battery-electric passenger cars in October, its first month above 300,000 and a third consecutive monthly record. The figures, released on 1 November, put electric-car sales 37.4% above October last year and 11.9% ahead of September.

The growth came alongside a decline in plug-in hybrids. BYD sold 177,382 of those vehicles, down 17.2% from a year earlier. Battery-electric cars consequently accounted for 63.3% of its passenger-vehicle sales, compared with about 51% a year ago.

Including commercial vehicles, BYD’s total new-energy vehicle sales reached 490,168 in October. That broader figure includes plug-in hybrids; it should not be read as a total for fully electric vehicles. Exports reached 170,194 vehicles, more than double the year-earlier number, across the company’s electric and plug-in hybrid ranges.

October’s performance also leaves a mixed picture for the year so far. Total new-energy vehicle sales through October were 3.62 million, down 2.2%, even as battery-electric passenger-car sales rose 5.9% to 1.94 million. The monthly record therefore marks a shift in BYD’s sales mix as well as an increase in electric-car volumes.

Sources

• CnEVPost: BYD October sales and company announcement
• electrive: October battery-electric sales record
• Photograph: BYD showroom in Tokyo