BYD passes global milestone

BYD has smashed through a sales milestone.. The brand said it has made more than 50 per cent of its total revenue from export markets, rather than from its domestic sales in the Chinese market.. This is due to BYD's efforts in the last several years growing both its exports and its overseas manufacturing efforts in order to escape a stagnant Chinese new car market, which has contracted after a long period of explosive growth..

The brand's sales in China declined by 12 per cent, but it grew its exports by a whopping 137 per cent, to well over half a million units, according to BYD's third quarter numbers for 2026.. The Chinese market has reached a level of saturation and stagnation after several years of a bruising price war, which many competitors have pointed the finger at BYD's aggressive domestic pricing strategy, overseas markets have become a crucial battleground for their future growth aspirations.. Profit margins on vehicles sold in Australia, Europe and South America are exponentially higher than cars sold domestically in China..

This is part of the reason sticker prices in the Chinese market are significantly lower than those we see in other markets.. Price tags for the Australian vehicles generally attract a 15 - 20 per cent premium over the equivalent spec offered in China.. Part of this will be down to right-hand drive conversion costs, and higher compliance costs for vehicles to meet Australia's notoriously strict design standards and high bar for a maximum five-star ANCAP score..

One analyst, as quoted in Nikkei Asia's analysis of BYD's latest sales numbers, said the company earns "roughly 10 times more profit per vehicle abroad than in China".. A part of this is vehicles sold in developed markets like Australia are offered in higher trim levels than they are in the Chinese domestic market, although the slew of larger, more expensive 4WDs and growth of luxury sub-brands like BYD's Denza or Geely's Zeekr are also massively helping to buff profit margins.. GWM proclaims that it has doubled its average sale price in the last seven years in Australia as it has introduced pricier, better-featured vehicles, both from its Haval SUV brand and its Tank off-road brand further up the price scale..

"The year-on-year increase in volume has also come with new cars at more expensive price points.. If we can do that at the same time as showing customers value no matter the price then we're on the right track." the brand's Executive General Manager of Marketing and Communications Steve Maciver told CarsGuide recently.. GWM is set to introduce its dedicated luxury arm Wey into Australia before the end of 2026..

While Chinese brands continue to dominate the sales charts in Australia, where the barrier to entry is significantly lower, automakers like BYD, Geely, and Chery are facing tariffs in Europe and the USA as those jurisdictions move to protect their own domestic automaking capabilities.. This is putting a cap on their respective ambitions, but each brand is also moving to diversify and acquire manufacturing capacity not only across Europe, but also in other strategic markets like South Korea and closer to home in South East Asia.. Legacy automakers are feeling the crunch..

Domestically this means household names like Subaru and Nissan dropping out of the race to be a top-10 automaker by sales, but internationally it means a massive squeeze in profit margins, big expenditure in research and development, and a large reduction in market share.. This has resulted in many large international brands like Volkswagen and Nissan resorting to closing factories or cutting jobs by the thousands, with some brands needing to embrace Chinese joint-venture partnerships more closely to build more competitive models for export.. Nissan, for example, shut down its historic Oppama factory in Japan as part of its Re:Nissan business overhaul, as it looks to reduce its capacity by a million units..

As of the end of September 2026, the top-10 rankings in Australia are:.