BYD‘s new flagship SUV Datang has surpassed 100,000 pre-orders, the head of the brand’s sales division said on Thursday.
Pre-sales for the Datang EV opened at the Beijing Auto Show late last month with a price band of 250,000 to 320,000 yuan ($36,700 to $47,000).
Lu Tian, General Manager of BYD’s Dynasty Sales Division, disclosed the figure days after the company announced that it had received 30,000 pre-orders over the first 24 hours.
The model will be officially launched in the Chinese market before summer, while details on a possible international debut remain unknown.
Specifications
The BYD Datang measures 5,263 millimetres in length, 1,999 millimetres in width, and 1,790 millimetres in height, with a 3,130-millimetre wheelbase.
The vehicle uses a 2+2+3 seven-seat layout, with dual zero-gravity seats in the front row.
The vehicle is built around BYD’s second-generation Blade Battery and a full 1,000-volt high-voltage architecture.
Pure electric range reaches up to 950 kilometres on China’s CLTC standard, a test cycle that consistently produces higher range figures than Europe’s WLTP and the US EPA cycle.
The Tang EV supports BYD’s Flash Charging system with 10C charge rate cells and 1,000-amp current capacity, enabling peak charging power of up to 1,000 kilowatts.
The model also debuts the company’s DiSus-A dual-chamber air suspension with road preview, alongside a crab walk mode and rear-wheel steering.
Six-Seater Battleground
The Datang model is launching into one of China’s most contested vehicle segments.
Three-row six-seat and seven-seat SUVs have become the main battleground and technology showcase for Chinese automakers in 2026, with more than 20 new models launched at the Beijing Auto Show.
Direct competitors entering the market include the XPeng GX, Volvo EX90, Leapmotor D19, SAIC-Volkswagen ID.ERA 9X, Voyah Taishan, Zeekr 9X, Lynk & Co 900, IM LS9, and the new iteration of the Onvo L90.
Li Auto‘s L9, Aito’s M9, and the upcoming Audi E7X are also targeting buyers in the segment.
Strategic Backdrop
The Datang EV launch comes as BYD faces its steepest profit decline in years and a collapse in operating cash flow during the first quarter of 2026, as the prolonged price war in its home market eroded margins.
The company delivered 4.6 million vehicles in 2025, up 7.7% from the prior year, meeting a lowered full-year goal it set in September.
Of those, BYD sold 2.3 million fully electric vehicles, surpassing Tesla as the world’s best seller of fully electric vehicles.
The Tang EV represents BYD’s push to capture higher-margin premium segments at a time when the price war has compressed unit economics across its mass-market lineup.
The company unveiled its second-generation Flash Charging platform earlier this year, pairing the Blade Battery 2.0 with a dedicated megawatt-class charger network in China.
The system has drawn public scrutiny from BMW, Lucid, and Nio, with executives at all three brands questioning the trade-offs between charging speed and battery longevity, range, and cost.
BYDÂ is expected to disclose the final retail pricing at the Datang EV’s official launch event planned for the next few months.
