BYD has become the first automotive manufacturer in the world to stop the production of fuel combusting vehicles”
By continuing to produce PHEVs, BYD will still make use of small, efficient combustion engines, however with BEV sales currently making up more than 50% of total sales, it seems only a matter of time before all sales end up being totally emission-free.
Since 2018, BYD grew its sales of (partially) electric passenger vehicles from little more than 200,000 cars per year to more than 3 million in 2023, all while gradually phasing out production of gasoline-powered cars, the last of which rolled off the assembly line in March 2022. Considering that completed phase-out, it’s even more noteworthy that BYD surpassed Volkswagen as the best-selling car brand in China last year.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/chinas-first-quarter-ev-sales-growth-slowest-in-a-year/ar-BB1lkWsx
BYD, which ceded the top EV seller title to U.S. peer Tesla in the first quarter, in March lowered starting prices for nine models including four under its premium brand Denza by 4% to as much as 20.5%.
BYD Chairman Wang Chuanfu forecast falling profit margins this year as the price war intensifies, but said the automaker would ensure stable profitability by improving sales. It is targeting 20% sales growth this year.
The auto sector’s profit margins have fallen to 4.3% from 8.7% in 2015, said Cui Dongshu, the CPCA’s secretary general.