Summary
- BYD launched the BYD Seal in Europe with a starting price of 44,900 euros
- BYD sold a record number of passenger vehicles in August, with hybrids growing faster than battery-only cars
- Li Auto, Aito, and Nio saw a dip in deliveries in August compared to the prior month
- Xpeng reported its best month for the year so far with deliveries of the newly launched Mona M03 electric car
- BYD sold 31,451 cars overseas in August, aiming to sell just under 400,000 cars outside China this year
Article
Chinese electric car giant BYD recently launched the BYD Seal in Europe at the IAA auto show in Munich, Germany. The electric sedan has a starting price of 44,900 euros ($48,479). In August, BYD reported record sales of passenger vehicles, with a 30% year-on-year increase to 370,854 cars. The sales of battery-only cars rose by nearly 12%, while hybrid-powered vehicle sales surged by 48%, accounting for just under two-thirds of BYD cars sold last month. In contrast, other new energy vehicle startups saw a dip in deliveries in August, with Li Auto, Aito, Nio, and Xpeng all reporting varying numbers of car deliveries.
Li Auto, best known for its range-extender vehicles, reported 48,122 deliveries in August, down from a record 51,000 in July. Aito, which uses Huawei technology, delivered 31,216 cars last month, down by over 10,000 vehicles from the prior month. Nio delivered 20,176 cars in August, slightly lower than July but still above 20,000 for a fourth-straight month. Xpeng reported its best month so far in 2021 with 14,036 car deliveries, including some newly launched mass-market Mona M03 electric cars priced below $20,000 in China. Geely-backed Zeekr also saw a month-on-month increase to 18,015 deliveries in August.
Zeekr announced plans to launch its first SUV this month with a price more than $1,400 lower than Tesla’s Model Y. BYD reported selling 31,451 cars overseas last month, bringing the year-to-date total to 264,869 cars sold abroad, surpassing the 242,765 cars sold overseas in all of last year. If BYD maintains its current pace, it could sell nearly 400,000 cars outside of China by the end of the year. Xiaomi reported delivering over 10,000 cars in August for a third-straight month, with CEO Lei Jun aiming to deliver 100,000 units of the SU7 electric sedan by the end of November, which would require an average of at least 16,000 cars delivered per month from August to November.
Overall, BYD’s introduction of the BYD Seal in Europe and its record sales figures indicate the company’s growing success in the electric vehicle market. Other new energy vehicle startups experienced varying levels of deliveries in August, with some seeing a decline in sales compared to the previous month. Companies like Nio and Xpeng continue to expand their offerings, with new models entering the market at competitive prices. Geely-backed Zeekr aims to undercut Tesla’s pricing with its upcoming SUV launch. Xiaomi also remains active in the electric vehicle space, with plans to deliver a significant number of SU7 electric sedans by the end of the year. The overall electric vehicle market in China appears to be dynamic and competitive, with companies vying for market share and innovation in the sector.
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