Shenzhen-based electric vehicle maker BYD posted record overseas sales in April, shipping 134,542 vehicles abroad, up 70.9 percent year-on-year, even as its domestic business extended a prolonged slump.
The result brings BYD’s total overseas deliveries for the first four months of 2026 to 455,707 units, putting it firmly on track toward its full-year target of 1.5 million vehicles sold outside China.
The contrast with its home market could not be sharper. BYD sold 314,100 passenger vehicles in China in April, down 15.7 percent year-on-year, marking its eighth consecutive month of annual decline.
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The slump has been driven by the phase-out of government EV purchase subsidies, a brutal domestic price war, and rising competition from software-forward brands including Xiaomi and Huawei’s Aito. Overseas sales now account for 42.8 percent of BYD’s total April volume – a share that would have seemed unthinkable just a few years ago.
The financial impact has been significant. BYD’s first-quarter net profit fell 55.4 percent year-on-year to 4.09 billion yuan, squeezed by the price war and higher hardware costs. In response, the company has launched over ten new models and is betting on its second-generation Blade Battery and ultra-fast charging technology to win back ground at home.
The company remains largely shut out of the United States due to steep tariffs, and is instead focusing overseas expansion on Europe, Southeast Asia and South America, where it posted a monthly registration record in Brazil in April.
