BYD published its production figures for August in a stock exchange announcement on Monday. Production had already fallen by 0.9 per cent in July. With a further decline of 3.78 per cent, there is now another drop. This is the first time since the coronavirus period in 2020 that BYD has cut production for two months in a row – that was in June and July 2020.
The Reuters news agency attributes the development at BYD to the general market situation in China. This is because the price war on the Chinese car market, which BYD itself had instigated, is now also affecting domestic manufacturers. According to Reuters, the second consecutive decline in production is a sign that the Chinese electric car giant is slowing down its years of massive expansion. The reduction in production is apparently being implemented by cutting shifts in individual factories, and the planned construction of new production lines is also being postponed.
However, the government in Beijing has recently tightened the reins on the automotive industry once again. In June, managers of the major car manufacturers were called upon to exercise restraint in the discount war, and in July, the Chinese industrial supervisory authority publicly disclosed fraud in electric car subsidies between 2016 and 2020, including at BYD. The long-tolerated practice of ‘zero-mileage’ used cars is now also under scrutiny. This involves registering new cars for a short period of time so that they can be included in sales statistics before being sold abroad as used cars with zero kilometres on the odometer.
Although BYD’s global sales rose slightly in August (thanks in part to growth in Europe), they fell for the fourth consecutive month in China by 14.3 per cent year-on-year to 292,813 vehicles. With four out of five cars still sold in China, BYD is heavily dependent on its home market.
BYD sold a total of 373,626 vehicles in August, 80,813 of which were exported (+157 per cent). BYD sold 199,585 battery electric cars, 34.4 per cent more than in August 2024 and 12.2 per cent more than in July. Plug-in hybrids, on the other hand, are on the decline: 171,916 units represent a 22.7 per cent drop on the previous year – this is the fifth month in a row in which BYD’s PHEV sales have fallen below the 2024 figure. Compared to July, however, there was a 5.4 per cent increase.
The development of the past few months also makes it increasingly unlikely that the annual target will be achieved. BYD originally wanted to sell 5.5 million units in 2025. According to the August figures published on Monday, the company has only reached 52.1 per cent of its target after eight months. It would therefore need an extremely strong final quarter to reach the 5.5 million vehicles target. However, some analysts now believe that BYD will not achieve this – China Merchants Bank International is forecasting only 4.9 million new BYDs.
reuters.com, cnevpost.com
This article was first published by Sebastian Schaal for electrive’s German edition.
