BYD aims to raise its overseas sales to 50 percent of its total volume by 2030

The Chinese manufacturer BYD has become one of the leading players in the electric mobility sector. This achievement has by no means dampened the company’s ambitions for the future; quite the contrary. With its sights already set on 2030, BYD is counting on continuing to win market share outside its home country, until its international and domestic sales are equal.

In 2024, just 10 percent of the 4.27 million battery electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles sold by BYD were exported, which gives us a good idea of the brand’s ambitious international expansion strategy. If it achieves this goal, BYD would compete directly with giants such as Volkswagen, Toyota, Stellantis and General Motors in the global market.

In China, BYD is already the undisputed leader, selling exclusively electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, as the company stopped producing pure combustion models in 2022. This same year BYD aims to sell 5.5 million vehicles, which would represent a 29 percent increase over last year, when its sales also grew an impressive 90 percent. BYD is also counting on exports of its vehicles reaching 800,000 units this year, practically doubling the figure for the previous year (417,204).

Europe will play a key role in the international ambitions of the Chinese manufacturer

BYD’s international expansion will focus on Europe and Latin America, ruling out the US market due to trade restrictions. The United States imposed a 100 percent tariff on Chinese electric vehicles some months ago, and with the new federal government these have increased even further, although the final rate may vary depending on how negotiations between the two countries evolve.

To circumvent trade barriers and accelerate its growth in Europe, BYD is betting on local production. In 2023, it announced the construction of its first European production plant in Hungary, which will begin operating at the end of 2025. A second plant in Turkey is scheduled for the end of 2026, and it is rumoured that the company is evaluating opening a third factory on the continent, as well as producing batteries locally. Outside Europe, BYD also plans to have new production plants in Thailand, Uzbekistan and Brazil.

According to some recent reports, BYD executives shared with the company’s main investors at the end of last year the goal of increasing sales in international markets to match domestic sales by 2030, highlighting the importance of the European market in achieving this target.