- BYD entered the UK passenger car market in March 2023.
- BYD currently offers six NEV models in the UK.
BYD (HKG: 1211, OTCMKTS: BYDDY) has seen its cumulative new energy vehicle (NEV) sales in the UK exceed 20,000 units, about two years after the Chinese NEV maker entered the local market.
It took the company 19 months to see it reach 10,000 cumulative sales in the UK, and just five months to go from 10,000 to 20,000 units, the semi-official Weibo account @小迪快报 said today.
In March, BYD sold 6,480 cars in the UK, bringing first quarter sales to 9,271, according to the account.
BYD entered the UK auto market in 2013 with its all-electric buses.
In March 2023, BYD officially entered the UK passenger car market, with the first model available there being the Atto 3, which is known in China as the BYD Yuan Plus.
To date, BYD offers six models in the UK, including five battery electric vehicle (BEV) models — Atto 2, Sealion 7, Atto 3, Dolphin, Seal — and a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) model Seal U DM-i.
The Atto 2 is the Yuan Up available in China, the Sealion 7 is the Sealion 07 EV, and the Seal U DM-i is the Song Plus DM-i.
BYD is expanding its presence in Europe, announcing its entry into the Swiss, Czech, and Slovak passenger car markets earlier this month.
The company sold 377,420 NEVs in March and overseas sales were a record 72,723 vehicles, according to figures it announced earlier this month.
In the first quarter, BYD sold 1,000,804 NEVs, including 206,084 overseas.
The company is expanding the size of its fleet to support the growth in overseas sales.
Last week, the BYD Shenzhen car carrier entered service and set sail. With 9,200 standard loading spaces, the ship is the world’s largest car carrier in loading capacity that has been put into operation.
BYD is considering setting up its third European car assembly plant in Germany as it looks to build brand awareness among European customers as a local manufacturer, according to Reuters.
