BYD Co. Ltd has witnessed a surge in domestic demand as it has rolled out multiple new models over the last year. Each of these models, underpinned by the company’s cell-to-pack battery technology, which uses long format lithium ferrous phosphate (LFP) blade cells, has enabled the company to improve its competitiveness. As a result, BYD is well positioned to use its current competitive advantage and penetrate new markets, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

David Leah, Senior Automotive Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “The cell-to-pack battery technology reduces cost, maximizes space utilization, and has a higher energy density compared to the conventional LFP batteries. In addition, BYD has invested heavily in expanding its production capacity, and has the unique advantage for a battery electric vehicle (BEV) producer of being highly vertical integrated, allowing the carmaker to further drive-up economies of scale.”

Given the strong financial position and class-leading technology, BYD has turned its attention to overseas mature markets such as Australia, Japan, and Europe. In these markets, BYD is primarily focused on selling BEVs, such as the BYD Atto 3 model, which is built on its all-electric platform, known as ‘e-platform 3.0’.

Leah adds: “Focusing on BEVs makes sense, particularly in Europe, given that the region’s ambitious zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) targets, as well as growing demand from consumers for affordable ZEVs. As a result, by the end of next year, BYD could well be active in more than 40 markets, compared with only a handful at present, with Europe being a key market, and accounting for the bulk of sales outside of China.”

While GlobalData remains optimistic about BYD’s future, the carmaker is likely to face stiff competition, not only from legacy OEMs, which are currently in the process of building up their BEV capabilities as well as maximizing production efficiencies, but also from new entrants, and not least the BEV market leader, Tesla.

Leah concludes: “Many have touted BYD as a major threat to Tesla, especially given that BYD has sold more BEVs than Tesla in China this year (see chart below), the first time since 2019. However, it remains to be seen whether BYD can overtake Tesla on the global stage as the bestselling BEV brand over the coming years.”