BYD Sales Plunge Free up to 41 Percent in Domestic Market

JAKARTA - For the past three years, BYD has looked like an automotive manufacturer that is difficult to touch. The company continues to introduce new models, expand its product portfolio, and record impressive sales growth.

However, entering the beginning of 2026, the pace began to slow down and opened up opportunities for another Chinese car manufacturer, Geely, to overtake. In the first two months of this year, BYD sold 400,241 vehicles.

Launching Carscoops, Monday, March 9, the figure fell 36 percent compared to the same period last year. In February alone, sales reached 190,190 units, down 9.5 percent compared to January.

This decline was partly influenced by the Chinese New Year holiday, but also reflected a sharp decline of up to 41 percent compared to February of the previous year. This condition is suspected to be triggered by reduced tax incentives and declining consumer confidence.

Many prospective buyers choose to postpone their purchase decisions, while waiting for the new models to be launched and the certainty of the government's exchange program before spending their funds.

Despite facing challenges in the domestic market, BYD's performance in the global market continues to strengthen. In February alone, the company exported 100,600 new energy vehicles which include electric cars (EV) and plug-in hybrids.

If combined with January, BYD's total exports have reached 201,082 units. Meanwhile, several other Chinese car manufacturers have recorded significant growth.

In the first two months of 2026, sales of Leapmotor's Stellantis partner increased 19 percent to 60,126 units. Xiaomi's electric vehicle division jumped 48 percent year-on-year to 59,000 units.

Zeekr also recorded a sharp increase of 84 percent during January-February, while Nio's shipments jumped 77 percent. Geely also showed very strong performance. To date, the manufacturer has delivered around 76,000 vehicles more than BYD.

This is an important moment because for the first time since 2022 Geely has managed to surpass BYD sales for at least two consecutive months. However, in the global market Geely is still a little behind with a total export of 181,891 units.

According to Bloomberg, BYD CEO Wang Chuanfu had previously acknowledged the increasing pressure in December. He said that competing car manufacturers were beginning to be able to narrow the technological gap that had previously been BYD's main advantage, something that is now beginning to be reflected in sales data.