While BYD might not be a household name here yet, the Warren Buffett-backed Chinese carmaker is actually the world’s biggest new-electric vehicles producer, selling some 641,000 units globally in just the first six months 2022.
Having entered the Australian market earlier this year, BYD has now committed to five new car launches within two years, and a target of 9,000 monthly sales within the next 12 months in the nation. Those are big numbers, especially from a company that’s just in its first year of operations, but BYD is seemingly confident to achieve its ambitious target.
Speaking to Drive.com.au, EVDirect (BYD’s Australian distributor) Managing Director, Luke Todd told the publication that BYD plans to manufacture 3,000 units of each of its three models per month some time next year.
“Within 12 months, we’ll have three models on the [Australian] market being delivered with production capability of 3000 vehicles per model per month – that’s 9000 vehicles per month,” commented Todd. “Our production capability of 9,000 vehicles per month means we are very confident that’ll be leading the charge.”
“So far, the sales volume [in Australia] has exceeded what we thought. We believe we’ll see a huge upshot in electric vehicle purchasing in general” he added.
Assuming the ambitious target is achieved, the monthly sales figure will put BYD ahead of Tesla in the lead of EV sales, and potentially as the second highest-selling carmaker overall in Australia. However, the publication reports that industry analysts remain sceptical about the steep sales growth in such a short period of time.
EVDirect says it has received over 3,500 orders for the BYD Atto 3 thus far, with first deliveries due to begin later this month. Equipped with a single electric motor on the front axle, the BYD Atto 3 claims an output of 150 kW (201 hp) and 310 Nm of torque, with a maximum range of 420 km (WLTP cycle) on the Extended Range variant thanks to the 60 kWh battery pack.
As for Malaysia, word on the grapevine is that BYD could soon make an introduction into the local market, under the helm of Sime Darby Motors, who is also the guardian for the EV brand in Singapore.
