BYD topped Brazil’s retail auto sales rankings in April, according to figures disclosed by the Shenzhen-headquartered company.
The company sold 14,911 vehicles — about 80 units more than Volkswagen. Both have a market share of nearly 13% in the South American country.
In March, the company had placed fifth behind Fiat, Volkswagen, General Motors and Hyundai.
BYD sells both fully electric and hybrid models in Brazil, while the German automaker also offers internal combustion engine models.
Volkswagen has been selling — and assembling — vehicles in the country since the 1950’s, while BYD‘s passenger vehicle lineup has only arrived the market in 2021.
Asian manufacturers such as BYD and Hyundai have been taking market share from established American companies GM and Ford, as well as from European-based Volkswagen Group, in the past decade.
Since 2012, the Brazilian auto industry has more than doubled from 15 brands to 35.
The top 10 best-selling automakers in Brazil also include Chery — China’s largest exporter by volume — which places 6th with 7,371 vehicles sold.
Speaking with local media, BYD‘s Senior VP in Brazil Alexandre Baldy said that “democratization is not just about making technology more accessible, but about expanding the market itself and making it more attractive to consumers.”
According to the executive, “owning an electric vehicle seemed like a distant dream for most people until quite recently, and today this option is already a reality for hundreds of thousands of people.”
Sales Target
In March, BYD said it aimed to capture a 10% market share in Brazil’s auto market this year — despite acknowledging increasing competition, as eleven new Chinese brands have either entered or are entering the market in 2026.
By then, the company increased its sales guidance by 33.7% to 250,000 vehicles delivered in the South American country this year.
A total of 52,322 vehicles were sold in the first four months of the year, which indicates that 20.9% of the target has been completed.
In 2022, BYD sold only 260 vehicles in Brazil. Sales jumped by 68-fold to nearly 18,000 units in 2023, and quadrupled again to 76,700 vehicles in 2024.
Last year, the company delivered over 112,800 vehicles in the country, with a record 15,530 units registered in December alone.
If the 250,000-unit target is achieved this year, 2026 sales will continue to double year over year.
BYD sold 314,100 vehicles globally in April, of which 134,542 were registered overseas.
The figures indicate that Brazilian sales represent around 11.1% of the company’s vehicle registrations outside of China.
Domestic sales, on the other hand, continue below last year’s levels.
Lineup
As the company prepares to import the hybrid version of the Yuan Pro, which recently debuted in Europe as the ‘Atto 2 DM-i,’ BYD has also introduced the new, seven-seat Atto 8.
The model is originally called the ‘Tang L’ in China, and debuted first in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region late last year, including countries such as Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain.
The seven-seater, targeting large families, is available as a plug-in hybrid and is priced from R$399,990 in Brazil (equivalent to $80,500).
At the same event, BYD introduced the 2027 iteration of the recently debuted Song Plus, which was previously the most expensive SUV in its hybrid lineup.
The model launched with an entry-level price of R$249,990 ($47,300) last June.
BYD‘s cheapest and best-selling model — which was also the first model to be manufactured in the new factory — is the Dolphin Mini, which is priced from R$122,800 ($24,700) in the country.
The Dolphin Plus hatchback’s prices begin around R$60,000 higher.
BYD offers three electric sedans in Brazil: the Seal, the King and the luxury Han sedan, priced from R$559,800 ($112,700) — the most expensive model in the lineup.
It is followed by the Tang SUV, which is priced from R$536,800, equivalent to $108,100.
The portfolio also includes the Yuan Pro and Yuan Plus fully electric SUVs — known as the Atto 2 and Atto 3 in Europe —, the Song Pro SUV, and the hybrid off-roader Shark.
In addition to the Dolphin Mini, BYD produces the plug-in hybrid models Song Pro and King at its Bahia plant.
Plant Construction
BYD began production at its first Brazilian passenger car assembly plant last July.
The facility, located in the northeastern state of Bahia, is expected to produce up to 150,000 vehicles annually and supply markets across Latin America.
BYD said it had invested more than R$5.5 billion ($1.1 billion) in the site, which spans 4.6 million square metres and is projected to create as many as 20,000 direct and indirect jobs.
The plant is the second one that the Chinese giant has in Brazil, with the first having been established in the state of São Paulo in 2015 and dedicated only to commercial vehicles.
Construction of its passenger car plant was temporarily halted late last year due to an investigation by the Public Labour Prosecutor’s Office (MPT).
The investigation resulted in BYD being prosecuted by the MPT over “slavery-like” working conditions for over 200 Chinese workers on the construction site.
Last month, the company was added to a government registry of employers found to have subjected workers to conditions analogous to slavery following the 2024 scandal.
Inclusion on the registry carries reputational risk for BYD and bars the company from obtaining certain types of loans from Brazilian banks.
The scandal appears not to affect operations at the Camaçari plant, however, which has produced more than 25,000 vehicles since its inauguration last October.
