Chinese EV maker BYD sold a record 3,255 cars in Germany in September, up 2,225% from last year. In Q3, the company sold 5,495 vehicles, representing an 835% increase from the same period in the previous year.
In 2025, so far (January-September), BYD sold 11,818 cars in the largest EU auto market, up 560% from the same period in 2024, according to registration data from the KBA, the Federal Motor Authority. BYD entered the German market in October 2022. BYD ceased production of vehicles equipped only with internal combustion engines (ICE) in March 2022.
The surge comes as not all China EV makers are doing well in Germany. Nio sold only 20 vehicles, two fewer than in September last year. Great Wall Motor (GWM) and its Ora brand sold 69 cars, a 73.4% year-over-year decrease. Lotus is not even trying, with only 13 sold vehicles, 50% down year-over-year.
But some China EV brands are feeling at home. Xpeng sold 241 cars, up 630% from last year, Leapmotor sold 910 vehicles, but no year-over-year comparison is available as the company entered Germany less than a year ago. Neither company is on its own – Xpeng is backed by Volkswagen, while Leapmotor is backed by Stellantis.
Back to BYD – the success in the overseas market is essential for them currently. Their sales in China are declining and are even bringing down their overall global sales. In September, BYD Group’s global sales fell by 5.9% to 393,060 passenger vehicles. The company also cut its annual sales target from 5.5 million to 4.6 million.
That is despite the fact that the company’s sales outside China grew 115.8% to 71,256 units in September. BYD aims to sell 1 million vehicles outside China in 2025. And they are pretty close to fulfilling this target: January – September, the company sold 697,072 cars overseas, up 123% from the same period last year.
And BYD double down on exports. Last week, BYD completed its massive export fleet, consisting of eight large car carriers with a cumulative annual transport capacity of one million vehicles. The last one, which went into operation earlier this week, was named BYD Jinan.
However, BYD doesn’t rely only on its Chinese plants for overseas sales. On July 1, BYD began production at its Brazilian plant, with the first Seagull hatchback rolling off the line. BYD is also building an EV plant in Pakistan, which is scheduled to go into operation in 2026. In Uzbekistan, production started already in June 2024. All those plants are knock-down kits (KD), meaning the car is brought in as parts from China and assembled locally. BYD claims it wants to achieve a high level of localisation.
BYD also built its first European car plant in Hungary; however, the Szeged facility is not yet operational, as the company has delayed mass production until 2026.
