"BEIJING -- From tariffs to technology restrictions, global challenges are mounting for Chinese carmakers. Yet BYD, China's biggest automaker, has been unstoppable.
Last month, BYD posted its fourth straight month of record global sales with 419,426 vehicles sold. Earlier this year, it seized the position as No. 1 carmaker by sales in China ahead of the Volkswagen group, which reigned for decades.
BYD makes only fully electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids, which together accounted for 53% of the Chinese market in September, according to figures released Saturday by the China Passenger Car Association.
Western and Japanese automakers specializing in gasoline-powered vehicles, now fighting for a minority of the market, are getting hammered. GM's September sales with joint venture partner SAIC Motor, with which it produces Buick, Chevrolet and Cadillac cars, declined by more than three-quarters from a year earlier to 22,050 vehicles. Honda's dropped 43%.
Globally, GM, Ford and some other Western carmakers have been retreating from their electric ambitions, making it hard to compete in China. Meanwhile, Honda recently opened a new plant in China dedicated to producing electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids.
BYD, or Build Your Dreams, is taking advantage of Chinese consumers' turn toward frugality. Its Qin L plug-in hybrid, released in May, is similar in size to the Toyota Camry but starts at the equivalent of $14,100, according to BYD's website, versus a starting suggested retail price of about $24,250 for the Camry.
BYD says the Qin L can run up to roughly 1,300 miles with one charge and a full tank. It comes with the features popular in smartcars such as a front display and voice commands to control the air conditioner and music system.
The company has been working for years to build its own batteries, improve fuel efficiency and develop plug-in hybrid technology. That has given it a lead in the new-energy vehicle, or NEV, category that includes full EVs and plug-ins, said Yale Zhang, managing director of Shanghai-based market research firm AutoForesight.
"Together with a much-improved vehicle exterior and interior styling from five years ago, it finally seized the opportunity of NEVs starting to enter average families," he said.
For much of this year, BYD's plug-in hybrids have outperformed its full EVs. In September, about 60% of the cars it sold globally were plug-ins.
The company's hopes for global expansion have been tempered by a backlash against Chinese cars. In the U.S., the Biden administration imposed a 100% tariff on Chinese EVs and the Commerce Department has proposed banning Chinese components inside connected vehicles. This month, European Union member states voted to impose tariffs of up to 45% on electric cars made in China.
BYD's overseas sales are still growing year over year but at a slower pace, and more than 9 of 10 of its vehicles are sold in China. BYD sells in markets including Europe and Central Asia.
At home, the Chinese carmakers are riding high, helped by a government cash-for-clunkers program that has brought some consumers back into showrooms. Last year, sales of local brands in China surpassed foreign brands for the first time in decades on an annual basis.
In April, the BYD group's sales volume in China surpassed that of the Volkswagen group, said Automobility, a Shanghai-based strategy firm. For the first nine months of the year, BYD's market share stood at about 16%, while the Volkswagen group -- including brands such as Volkswagen, Audi and Skoda but not imported vehicles such as Porsche -- was at around 13%, data from Automobility showed. Volkswagen's China head said in April that it is focused on profitability.
Lowering costs by making its batteries and chips in-house, BYD is one of the few profitable EV makers in China.
This year, BYD intensified a price war by slashing prices. Still, the company reported a 24% increase in net profit in the first half of the year from the same period a year earlier, the latest figure available." [1]
1. China's BYD Eclipses Foreign Auto Rivals. Kubota, Yoko. Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 15 Oct 2024: B.1.
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