BYD overtakes Volkswagen as the top-selling car brand in China, nudging ahead in Q1 2023 sales – paultan.org

BYD has reportedly become China’s top-selling car brand, moving on top of Volkswagen in the charts for the first time in the first quarter of 2023. According to automotive industry data compiled by Bloomberg, the electric vehicle automaker sold more than 440,000 cars in its domestic market in the first three months of the year, putting it ahead of its German rival.

In the same period, Volkswagen – which has been the best-selling automotive brand in China for at least a decade and a half – managed 427,247 units from sales under its brand, with EVs accounting for only 6%.

The company has acknowledged that the Chinese carmaker is a potent competitor. “BYD is very, very strong,” Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume said during Auto Shanghai 2023 earlier this month. However, he added that not everything was about volume. “We want to have a successful business, and it is more important to be the best international group here in China,” he said.

In 2022, BYD sold 1.86 million fully-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, more than it did in the previous four years combined, outperforming Tesla’s 1.3 million units. In the first quarter of that year, the cars it sold accounted for two in every five new-energy vehicles delivered in China.

This year, the company has sold almost 550,000 cars globally in the first three months, and it has been intensifying its push overseas, prioritising Europe, Latin America and markets around Asia, in a bid to increase its numbers. According to Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Joanna Chen, the brand has said it is aiming to sell at least three million vehicles this year, possibly as many as 3.7 million units.

The introduction of new models such as the Seagull will aid that push. On April 19, the company said it had received more than 10,000 orders for its budget hatchback – which sits below the Dolphin in its line-up – within 24 hours after the pre-sale for it began. Earlier this week, it reduced the price of the Seagull by 5,000 yuan (RM3,215) in a bid to attract more buyers.

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