BYD sales sputter as competition, regulatory scrutiny grow

HONG KONG – BYD’s sales barely grew in July, raising doubts about whether the Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker will meet its annual target.

The world’s biggest EV seller delivered 344,296 vehicles in July, it said on Aug 1. That is up 0.6 per cent from a year earlier, but down 10 per cent from June. 

While the slowdown is not unexpected given that China new car sales are typically weak in the summer, BYD faces headwinds in hitting its annual goal of 5.5 million units. The Chinese authorities have stepped up scrutiny on the nation’s auto sector, pledging to crack down on the heavy discounts that have fuelled a price war.

Having sold 2.49 million units through July, the maker of the electric Seagull hatchback now needs to deliver on average roughly 602,000 vehicles a month for the rest of the year to reach its target. The most vehicles BYD has ever sold in a single month was just shy of 515,000 in December 2024.

Most rivals are showing signs of resilient demand. Geely Automobile Holdings sold 237,717 cars in July, its highest since November. Meanwhile, Stellantis-partner Leapmotor and Xpeng achieved new monthly records, delivering 50,129 and 36,717 vehicles, respectively.

Fellow upstart Xiaomi also reported record deliveries of more than 30,000 units. In contrast, Li Auto’s 30,731 units were down about 40 per cent from a year earlier. 

China’s Passenger Car Association said last week that retail passenger-vehicle sales in July were estimated to grow 7.6 per cent from a year earlier, which would be an 11 per cent decline from June.

Nio continued to struggle as it posted a 16 per cent month-on-month fall in sales, recording its smallest sales volume since March. But Nio’s shares jumped 8.6 per cent on Aug 1, after the launch of its Onvo L90 model, which analysts see as attractive in its pricing and offering. BLOOMBERG