BYD has cut its sales goal for the year by up to 16% to 4.6 million vehicles, two people familiar with the matter said, as the Chinese EV heavyweight faces its slowest annual expansion in five years and other indications that its run of record growth may be tapering off.
China’s biggest automaker told analysts in March it was aiming for 5.5 million vehicle sales in 2025. Internally, however, that figure has been revised downward several times in recent months, the sources said.
The most recent target of at least 4.6 million vehicles was shared within the firm and with selected suppliers last month to assist planning, the sources said, both of whom asked not to be identified.
The goal is still subject to adjustment depending on market conditions, the sources added.
BYD’s Hong Kong-listed shares, which had fallen 1.4% ahead of the Reuters report, extended losses and were down 3.1% in the afternoon.
The sources did not specify a reason for the reduction. One of them said it reflects mounting pressure from rising competition with rivals including Geely Auto (0175.HK) and Leapmotor (9863.HK).
Last week, BYD posted a 30% drop in quarterly profit, its first decline in more than three years.
BYD did not reply to a request for comment.
The newly reported target, which has not been previously disclosed, is below several analyst forecasts that have been trimmed recently. This week Deutsche Bank forecast BYD would sell 4.7 million vehicles, while Morningstar projected 4.8 million.
The revised goal would be a 7% rise on last year and would mark the slowest yearly growth since 2020, when sales dropped 7%.
The scaled-back outlook also reflects deflationary pressures on the world’s second-largest economy, where domestic demand has been weakened by a prolonged property slump. In the first eight months of this year, BYD has achieved only around 52% of its initial 5.5 million vehicle sales objective.
In just a few years, BYD has evolved from an EV newcomer into one of the globe’s most significant automakers by carrying out much of its manufacturing in-house, enabling it to contain costs even while introducing advanced features.
Its sales of battery-electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids climbed tenfold between 2020 and 2024, reaching 4.3 million vehicles, placing it alongside General Motors and Ford on global sales metrics.
Yet it is now showing clear signs of cooling, particularly in its core market China, which accounts for nearly 80% of its sales and is embroiled in a bruising, years-long price war.
BYD has cut production and postponed capacity expansion at its Chinese plants, Reuters reported in June.
BYD’s sales of budget models – those priced under 150,000 yuan ($21,000) and representing the bulk of its domestic volumes – dropped 9.6% in July compared with a year earlier, according to Reuters’ analysis of its filing and a sales breakdown from Chinese auto data provider DATADIC.
By contrast, Geely’s sales in that price bracket surged 90% year-on-year in July.
Geely raised its 2025 sales target to 3 million vehicles from 2.71 million, its executives said at an August earnings briefing.
BYD’s production fell for a second consecutive month in August, marking its first back-to-back monthly contraction since 2020.
EV Tax Credit Expires September 30 – New IRS Deadline Rule Explained
Sustainability advocate with a keen eye on policies, trends, and real-world EV impact.
Leave a Reply