BYD has reported a significant jump in sales in its very first month of no longer selling vehicles with gasoline engines.
Throughout April, the Chinese car manufacturer sold a total of 105,475 passenger vehicles plus an additional 567 electric commercial vehicles. Of the 105,475 passenger vehicles sold, 57,403 were all-electric models while the remaining 48,072 were plug-in hybrids. These figures represent jumps of 256 per cent and 439 per cent respectively.
BYD completely phased out sales of gasoline vehicles in March.
The first-quarter of 2022 has also proved to be very fruitful for the car manufacturer. It has sold no less than 397,420 vehicles this year, a significant rise of 166 per cent over the first quarter of 2021. What’s arguably even more important is the fact that sales of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles have jumped by 388 per cent to 392,371 while BYD’s sales of gasoline vehicles have plummeted by 93 per cent to just 5,049 units.
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BYD had long planned to stop producing and selling vehicles powered exclusively by internal combustion engines. In fact, BYD chief executive Wang Chuanfu confirmed to the media last year that the trend to axe ICEs was “already set” by the regulatory framework implemented by the Chinese government to encourage the switch to “new energy vehicles.” He added that production of BYD’s gasoline models would end in 2022 and also noted that BYD will eventually transition to only building EVs, meaning its plug-in hybrids will also be ditched at some time in the future.
BYD joined the likes of Ford, General Motors, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, and Jaguar Land Rover last year in pledging to cease production of fossil-fuel vehicles around the world by 2040. The company also recently previewed its latest all-electric sedan, dubbed the Seal and set to rival the Tesla Model 3.
