China’s BYD vehicle sales fall for fifth month in a row

BEIJING/HONG KONG: BYD’s vehicle sales fell by 30.1% in January from a year earlier, the fifth straight month of decline, as the Chinese electric vehicle maker navigates external uncertainties and tough competition at home.

The automaker sold 210,051 vehicles globally last month, a stock market filing on Sunday showed. The export volume of new energy vehicle was at 100,482 units for the month of January.

Its production was down 29.1%, extending a losing streak which began July last year.

At home, BYD launched upgraded new versions of a number of plug-in hybrid models with long-range batteries last month, aiming to boost the appeal of its affordable hybrid models.

Sales of plug-in hybrid cars, which made up more than half of BYD’s total car sales, fell 28.5% in January, extending a trend after they fell 7.9% in 2025.

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BYD said in January it has targeted 1.3 million vehicles in overseas shipments for this year, suggesting a 24% increase from 2025 but lower than an earlier goal of up to 1.6 million vehicles its management told Citi in a meeting in November.

The company did not give reasons for the downward revision. Its new EV plant in Hungary is expected to come online this year, adding to its manufacturing in Brazil and Thailand. It also has planned assembly plants in Indonesia and Turkey.

A 150.7% surge in sales abroad helped BYD unseat Tesla as the world’s top EV vendor last year, offsetting mounting pressure in its home market, notably from Geely and Leapmotor in the budget segment.

BYD narrowly met its slashed global sales target of 4.6 million units last year. It has not announced the 2026 target.

The world’s largest auto market is expected to deal with stagnation this year as the Chinese government scales back subsidies for trading in lower-priced models, weighing on BYD and its peers betting on budget cars.