China’s EV giant keeps rewriting its own record books. BYD’s overseas sales surged to an all-time high of 175,349 vehicles in June, a staggering 94.7 percent increase year-on-year, as the Shenzhen-based automaker’s global expansion shifts into an even higher gear. Total worldwide wholesale deliveries reached 403,472 new energy vehicles for the month, up 5.5 percent from a year ago.
The numbers confirm a strategic pivot that has been building for two years: with China’s brutally competitive domestic market squeezing margins, BYD’s growth engine is now firmly abroad — and Europe is the crown jewel.
Britain and Germany Fall in Line
The United Kingdom has become BYD’s breakout Western market. The company registered 6,242 vehicles there in June, up 36 percent year-on-year, bringing its first-half total to 37,795 — nearly double the same period last year. Models like the Seal U plug-in hybrid and the compact Dolphin Surf have found ready buyers in a market with no tariffs on Chinese EVs.
Germany, Europe’s largest and toughest car market, tells a similar story. BYD set a new monthly record with 6,265 registrations in June, pushing its half-year German tally to 26,264 units — remarkable traction on Volkswagen’s home turf.
A Factory Footprint to Match
To sustain the push — and sidestep EU import tariffs on Chinese-built EVs — BYD is racing to localize production. Its new plant in Szeged, Hungary is scheduled to begin production in the fourth quarter of 2026, giving the company its first EU manufacturing base. Executives have signaled they are “looking for any available plant in Europe,” with reports of talks over underutilized facilities in Italy and elsewhere, including interest in surplus Stellantis capacity.
BYD expects overseas sales to exceed a quarter of its total volume this year, a share that seemed fanciful when the company began exporting in earnest just a few years ago. Company leadership has been open about the endgame: overtaking Toyota and Volkswagen to become the world’s number one automaker.
Europe’s legacy brands have spent two years warning about the Chinese EV wave. June’s figures suggest the wave is no longer coming — it has arrived, and it is building factories on the beach.
Source: CnEVPost
