China’s largest electric vehicle maker BYD announced on Saturday a temporary price cut of up to 35% across 22 models, sending its Hong Kong-listed shares down nearly 9% on Monday.
The stock had hit a record high of HK$477.80 last week after the automaker surpassed Tesla in European sales for the first time.
The limited-time discounts, available until the end of the second quarter, apply to models from BYD’s Dynasty and Ocean series, including the Seagull hatchback and Seal dual-motor hybrid sedan. Price reductions reach as high as 53,000 yuan ($7,360).
The Seagull, which launched across 15 European markets last week, including Germany and Italy, saw its domestic price cut by 20% to 55,800 yuan ($7,750). In Europe, the model targeting urban roads is known as Dolphin Surf.
The Seal dual-motor variant dropped 34% to 102,800 ($14,270).
The aggressive pricing campaign triggered a broader sell-off in Chinese EV stocks. Shares of Li Auto, Nio and XPeng each fell between 3% and 4.5% in Hong Kong on Monday.
BYD’s direct competitors have started to respond. Stellantis-backed startup Leapmotor cut prices by 28% and 30% on the entry-level versions of its C16 and C11 extended-range SUVs, respectively.
SAIC’s premium EV brand IM Motors said it would offer an 18% discount on its LS6 e-SUV for a limited time.
The company delivered 380,089 vehicles globally in April, of which 51.5% were fully electric — the first time its EV sales surpassed hybrids.
Overseas sales hit a monthly record of more than 78,000 units in April, meaning one in five vehicles delivered last month was an export. Year-to-date, overseas deliveries account for 28.5% of the total.
BYD has set a 2025 sales target of 5.5 million vehicles, including 800,000 exports. With over 1 million units sold globally between January and April, the company has already completed a quarter of its annual goal.
