On April 27, BYD’s fourth RoRo (roll-on/roll-off) ship – Shenzhen – officially started its first ocean voyage to Brazil with more than 7,000 new energy vehicles onboard starting from Jiangsu, China. Brazil is BYD’s largest overseas market and the automaker has the fastest growth in investment in Brazil among Chinese automakers in the past two years.
In 2024, BYD also became the “fastest growing brand” in Brazil with models such as the BYD Song Pro and Seagull.
Earlier in January this year, the BYD Shenzhen undocked in Yangzhou port, about three hours north-west of Shanghai.
Then on April 22, BYD held a delivery ceremony for Shenzhen, which measures 219.9 meters long and 37.7 meters wide with 12 decks. The BYD Shenzhen can travel up to a speed of 18.5 knots (34.3 km/h) and carry up to 9,200 vehicles simultaneously, which is equivalent to an area of 20 football fields, making it the largest car carrier in the world, according to the official. The ship also adopts a dual-fuel propulsion system using Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and conventional fuel.
In the first quarter of 2025, BYD said its RoRo ships have transported more than 25,000 new energy vehicles from China to overseas. This number is small compared to BYD’s first quarter overseas sales figure, which was 206,000 units, a year-on-year increase of approximately 110%. In March alone, BYD’s overseas sales were 72,723 units. In the coming years, BYD is expected to greatly expand its car carrier fleet to meet the demands.
Since 2024, BYD has operated four RoRo ships, including the Explorer No.1, Changzhou, Hefei, and Shenzhen. Looking ahead, BYD’s fifth RoRo ship “Changsha” was undocked in March and is expected to be delivered in May. At the same time, BYD undocked the “Xi’an” RoRo ship in April, but the official delivery date has not been announced yet at this time.
