XHANGHAI (Reuters) – BYD Co Ltd launched five lower-priced versions of its Seal sedan on Wednesday as the Chinese electric vehicle (EV) giant looks to extend its lead in the world’s biggest market for new energy cars.
Pricing for the rear-wheel drive Seal Champion Edition with a range of 550 kilometers (341.75 miles) per charge starts at 189,800 yuan ($27,459.09), 10% lower than a previous version with the same range, BYD’s website showed.
It is also 18% cheaper than the rear-wheel-drive version of Tesla Inc’s Model 3 in China, with a range of 556 kilometers, against which the Seal model aims to compete.
BYD, China’s best-selling electrified vehicle manufacturer, launched the Seal sedan under its Ocean series in July 2022, designed with sporty styling and equipped with smart features. It sold 19,573 Seal cars in the first quarter, while China sales of the Model 3 totaled 42,782 units in the same period, according to data from the China Passenger Car Association.
China’s electric vehicle market is in the midst of a price war sparked by Tesla earlier this year, with a number of electric vehicle makers, including BYD, following the US manufacturer’s lead by slashing prices on older models. sold this year to defend market share.
The electric vehicle price war is also driving sales away from internal combustion engine vehicles as the price gap between the technologies narrows.
BYD has so far led the new energy vehicle (NEV) market with its various offerings of plug-in hybrid and battery-only models priced below 300,000 yuan. At the recent Shanghai auto show, it made headlines by unveiling an electric hatchback that cost half the price of the cheapest NEVs available elsewhere.
It has overtaken Germany’s Volkswagen as the best-selling passenger vehicle brand in China in the past two quarters.
But signs of weaker demand are also emerging, with BYD cutting shifts at two of its auto assembly plants in recent weeks, Reuters reported in March.
($1 = 6.9121 Chinese Yuan Renminbi)
(Reporting by Zhang Yan and Brenda Goh; Editing by Christopher Cushing)
