BYD and the Chinese electric car market may have just crossed a very important threshold that could have major ramifications for customers and businesses. It's a tale of two halves. Quite simply, UK car consumers should be cheering. While at the same time brands that have written the rulebook are quivering in fear.
The moment came last week when new data from Jato Dynamics revealed that new Chinese EV brand BYD had registered more pure electric cars than Tesla across Europe for the very first time. The data shows BYD recorded a whopping 359% increase in April while Tesla a 49% drop in volumes year on year. In the UK, BYD is now outselling staple household brands such as Fiat, Dacia, and Seat.
Felipe Munoz, global analyst at Jato Dynamics warned of the seismic impact of the numbers as a truly groundbreaking moment for the motor industry,
Munoz said: “Although the difference between the two brands’ monthly sales totals may be small, the implications are enormous.
“This is a watershed moment for Europe’s car market, particularly when you consider that Tesla has led the European BEV market for years, while BYD only officially began operations beyond Norway and the Netherlands in late 2022.”
Data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) revealed BYD is quickly closing in on beating Tesla in 2025.
The Chinese marque has sold 11,782 models so far this year compared to Tesla's 12,986. Behind for now, but maybe not for long. When a market leader is under threat from a start-up, reducing prices or bringing out new stock may be a good idea.
However, BYD has Tesla beaten on both these fronts. BYD has a brand new exciting range of cars with Tesla’s Cybertruck yet to get off the starting blocks.
Then this week, BYD unleashed their hammer blow as they confirmed price cuts of up to 30% across 22 electric and plug-in hybrid models. These won't apply to Europe yet, but BYD has now shown they can and will reduce prices in the right circumstances.
A new factory in Hungary is close to competition with the goal of producing 200,000 models per year from 2026. Could this be when BYD’s already affordable models become the cheapest on the market?
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Unlike the USA and European Union, the UK is applying some of its Brexit freedoms to not apply tariffs on Chinese car companies.
What this means is when BYD inevitably does cut prices in Europe, the UK will be among the first to benefit.
The new car market will likely be flooded by a host of cheap Chinese models and the traditional manufacturers will likely be left unable to compete.
But will Joe Bloggs care if they have a ‘household name’ slapped on their steering wheel when they’re behind the wheel of a brand-new BYD. Probably not.
This could finally be the boost the EV market needed to go mainstream, but will it kill the UK car industry at the same time?
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