BYD said on Sunday that it delivered 382,476 units in May, a 14% increase year over year. The group set a new record-high for sales outside China, which represented 23.3% of the total figures.
Sequentially, figures of passenger vehicles saw a slight increase of 1.2% (or 4,300 units) to 376,930 vehicles.
The Group delivered 204,369 battery electric vehicles (BEV), up 39.6% year over year, while plug-in hybrid models reached 172,561 units.
Fully electric vehicles made up 54.2% of BYD’s total passenger vehicle deliveries in May, marking the second month in a row that BEV deliveries surpassed PHEVs.
In April, the company’s fully electric vehicles outperformed hybrid models for the first time this year, with 51.5% of the vehicles delivered.
Deutsche Bank’s analyst Wang Bin estimated that BYD‘s May figures would show a 3% year-over-year increase.
BYD sold over 74,949 vehicles from its Dynasty and Ocean series — nearly 20% of the group’s total deliveries. The city compact Seagull represented 16%, with 60,131 units.
The sub-brand Denza registered 15,806 units, while luxury sub-brands Fangchengbao and Yangwang reported 12,592 and 139 vehicles sold, respectively.
Last week, the company announced a temporary price cut of up to 35% across 22 models in China, sparking a price war with its direct competitors — which have started responding with price cuts ranging from 18% to 30%.
Meanwhile, sales overseas reached 89,047 vehicles last month — a 137.5% growth from May 2024. The company posted a new record-high in international sales for the sixth consecutive month.
Earlier in May, data from Jato Dynamics reported that BYD outsold Tesla in Europe for the first time in April, by registering 7,231 fully electric vehicles on the continent, while the U.S. brand sold 7,165.
Tesla’s numbers were confirmed in a report by the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA). However, ACEA does not reveal data from Chinese brands’ sales in the continent.
Last month, BYD launched the city compact Dolphin Surf across 15 European markets. Known as the Seagull in China, the EV was the brand’s second-best-selling model in its home market last month, with 55,028 units sold.
In China, the vehicle is priced from 55,800 yuan, equivalent to $7,800 — after a 20% cut last weekend.
In Germany, it starts at €22,990 ($26,100) for the base version with 220 km of WLTP range, while the 310 km version is priced from €24,990. In Italy, pricing begins at €18,990 ($21,500) before local incentives.
The company set a global goal of 5.5 million vehicle sales for this year, including 800,000 units overseas. BYDÂ sold 1,763,369 vehicles from January 1 to May 31, reaching 32% of its 2025 target.
