BYD broke a record but didn’t please anyone

BYD, China’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer, closed 2025 with a new sales record. The company completed the year with a total of 4,550,036 vehicle sales. This figure means an increase of 7.1 percent compared to the previous year. Yes, there is a record, but it is clearly seen that the growth rate exceeds the old days. THE TABLE WAS WEAK IN DECEMBER.IBYD sold 414,784 passenger vehicles in global markets in December. This level indicates a decrease of 18.6 percent compared to the same month last year and 12.7 percent compared to November. Thus, the company experienced an annual sales loss for the fourth month in a row. However, the picture is not pessimistic in every aspect. Foreign sales showed a remarkable performance in December. BYD’s sales outside China reached 133,172 units. This figure means a 133 percent increase compared to last year and was recorded as a new record for the company. ELECTRIC AND HYBRID BALANCE IS CHANGING In December, BYD’s fully electric vehicle sales decreased by 8.2 percent on an annual basis to 190,712 units. The situation for rechargeable hybrid models was harsher. Sales in this segment amounted to 224,072 units, a decrease of 25.7 percent on an annual basis. It is worth remembering: BYD had completely stopped sales of internal combustion engine vehicles as of April 2022 and decided to continue its path only with electric and hybrid models. LOSS OF MOMENTUM OVER THE YEAR NET BYD’s fully electric vehicle sales in 2025 were 2,254,714 units. This means an increase of 27.9 percent compared to 2024. On the other hand, plug-in hybrid sales decreased to 2,288,709 units, decreasing by 7.9 percent on an annual basis. With this change, the share of electric vehicles in total sales increased to 49.6 percent in 2025. The share of hybrids decreased to 50.4 percent. So the balance is slowly shifting in favor of fully electric models. On the other hand, BYD’s sales outside China exceeded the 1 million threshold for the first time. The company sold 1,046,083 vehicles abroad during the year. This means a very strong increase of 150.7 percent. THE TARGET WAS ACHIEVED BUT EXPECTATIONS WERE HIGHBYD announced a sales target of 5.5 million units at the beginning of 2025. In fact, it was rumored behind the scenes that this figure could go up to 6.5 million. However, the target was reduced to 4.6 million units in September. The level reached at the end of the year remained very close to this revised target. 2026 MAY BE MORE CHALLENGING The real question mark for the company is the expectations for 2026. Sales are weakening in the Chinese domestic market. The BYD brand experienced a steep 35 percent decline in China in November. The contraction in the domestic market is expected to exceed 10 percent in 2025. RELATED NEWS

Automobile Magazine – English