After the spectacular sales success in 2023, BYD is pushing hard to further increase its plug-in electric car sales in China and overseas.
According to BYD's investor event (via CnEVPost), the company sales are expected to grow by over 20% in 2024. Considering 3 million units in 2023 (up 62% year-over-year), we are talking about at least 3.6 million rechargeable cars.
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BYD EV Sales Heads 10,000,000 Cumulatively
BYD's plug-in electric car sales recently reached 7 million units (since 2008). That includes 3 million sold in 2023. In the second part of 2024, the number of rechargeable BYDs will exceed 10 million.
About half of BYD's sales are all-electric cars, while the other half are plug-in hybrids. Assuming it remains like this in 2024, then the company will sell at least 1.8 million all-electric cars.
Let's note that in February, there was an unofficial media report in China (36kr) that BYD plans to sell 4 million cars in 2024, but maybe it was too ambitious.
One of the BYD's main tasks is expansion outside of China. In 2023, the company sold 242,765 cars overseas (up 336% year-over-year). It was about 8% of the total volume. In 2024, the overseas sales target is 500,000, which would require double the exports. The share of exports should increase to nearly 14% (assuming 3.6 million total).
As soon as in 2025, the overseas sales might reach 1 million units, which indicates the company's direction.
Another important move for BYD will be the market launch of its fifth-generation Dual Mode (DM) plug-in hybrid technology, scheduled for May 2024. It's promised to improve fuel economy to 2.9 liters per 62 miles (100 km) or some 78 MPG when driving with a depleted battery. At the same time, the total range on a full tank and full charge is promised to reach 1,240 miles (2,000 km) in the Chinese's optimistic CLTC test cycle.
According to Wang Chuanfu, BYD's chairman and president, the fifth-generation DM tech will gradually spread through the lineup, depending on the market conditions. The previous generation was launched three years ago (2021) and the new one is expected to be highly popular in the next 1-2 years.
Interesting words from Wang Chuanfu concern the market situation in China's plug-in car segment. BYD's boss described it as a phase of elimination, which will bring "a showdown over scale, cost and technology."
It's expected that over the next 3-5 years, the share of joint venture brands in China will drop from 40% to 10%. Local brands already account for over 55% of the country's passenger car sales (CPCA's data for February), and they are preparing to grab another 30%.
