Brokerage data revealed that BYD outsold Volkswagen over the first four weeks of November, a turnaround that underlines the pressure on legacy brands in the largest auto market in the world.
According to statistics from China Merchants Bank International (CMBI), Tesla’s retail sales in China also nearly quadrupled in November compared to the same month last year after the American manufacturer reduced pricing and provided incentives on its Model 3 and Model Y models.
According to the figures, BYD sold 152,863 vehicles in total between November 1 and November 27, an increase of about 83% in average daily sales from the same time last year.
BYD’s tally was greater than Volkswagen’s (143,602 retail sales) and Toyota Motor Corp’s (115,272 retail sales), which were both down on the year by 0.3% and 0.5%, respectively.
However, the Volkswagen AG group still outsold BYD, when the 36,847 units sold under the Audi brand are included.
BYD, which just started manufacturing cars in 2003, will lead the sales charts in China for the first time if the current retail sales trend continues, making it the first time a firm with a lineup of plug-in hybrids and pure electric vehicles (EVs) has done so.
On the grounds that incentives are losing their impact and that China’s zero-COVID laws have discouraged buyers from visiting showrooms and dampened consumer confidence as the country’s economy slows, automakers have been bracing for a larger decline in the Chinese market.
According to CMBI data, overall retail sales of Chinese-made automobiles decreased by 7% year over year in the first four weeks of November as opposed to a 2% loss in the first three weeks of October.
Other than Tesla, established international automakers have seen their sales and market share decline in China at the hands of Chinese rivals who attract buyers with a wider range of fairly priced EVs and features like in-car entertainment and autonomous drive.
As the first JV failure by a foreign brand in the era of electric vehicles, Stellantis announced in October that its Jeep joint venture in China will declare bankruptcy.
In the past five years, plant usage in China has fallen by between 30 and over 50 percentage points for other well-known manufacturers including Volkswagen, General Motors, Ford, and Hyundai.
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