Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
Since expanding to the UK in early 2023, BYD has launched four new models in under two years. The automaker’s UK sales rose 658% in 2024 to more than 8,700 units.
Data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) showed on Wednesday that BYD registered 1,614 fully electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles in the UK last month, reaching a new record since it entered the market. The previous record was reached in November last year with nearly 1,400 units.
Over the weekend, the company said it sold 296,446 passenger vehicles globally in January, marking a 47.5% increase from a year earlier.
Sales of passenger vehicles outside China reached an all-time high of 66,336 units, up 83.4% year-on-year, nearly doubling from January 2024.
According to the SMMT, battery electric vehicles (BEVs) made up 19.6% of all new passenger car registrations in the UK in 2024, with a total of 1,952,778 cars registered.
Tesla’s registrations fell 8% year over year to 1,458 units in January, as the company prepares to begin global deliveries of the refreshed Model Y in March. MG, the China-owned brand, recorded 5,440 registrations, down 19% both sequentially and year over year.
Polestar registered 746 cars in January, marking a 216% increase from the previous year and capturing a 0.54% market share. On Wednesday, Polestar UK’s country manager, Matt Galvin, revealed that registrations of pre-owned Polestar vehicles had grown “by over 300%.”
BYD continues to open new factories outside China as global expansion speeds up. The company opened one in Thailand in July 2024, which became the first production facility in Southeast Asia.
A $1 billion manufacturing plant in Indonesia will open by the year end, with an annual production capacity of 150,000 vehicles for both domestic and export markets.
BYD sales increased more than 41% to about 4.27 million vehicles in 2024. As the company continued its global expansion, sales of passenger vehicle sales outside China soared 71.9% to 417,204 units.
