BYD’s sales fall to nine-month low, losing lead to SAIC in China’s car market

BYD Co. has lost its crown as China’s top-selling carmaker, slipping behind SAIC Motor Corp. after another decline in sales. The Shenzhen-based electric vehicle (EV) giant sold 441,706 vehicles in October, down 12% from a year earlier, marking its second straight monthly decline, as reported by Bloomberg.

SAIC overtook BYD with 453,978 units sold last month. BYD’s shares fell 1.9% to HK$98.70 (S$16.55) in early Hong Kong trading on Monday, nearing their lowest level in nine months and set for their lowest close since Feb 5. The stock has now dropped about 36% from its peak in late May.

Last week, BYD also posted its second consecutive decline in quarterly profit, as tighter government rules against heavy discounting curbed one of its key strategies to boost sales.

In July, Che Jun, head of a Communist Party central leading group, called on major automakers for “rational competition” in the electric vehicle (EV) industry, promising tighter price monitoring.

While October was BYD’s best month of sales this year, it faces pressure to maintain strong momentum through the rest of 2025 to hit its analyst estimates of 4.6 million units in annual shipments, according to Morgan Stanley.

With 3.7 million cars sold so far, the automaker needs to deliver about 450,000 vehicles a month through December to meet expectations.

As part of its global strategy, BYD positioned itself as a new competitor in Japan’s ‘kei’ car market last week after unveiling ‘Racco,’ its first-ever all-electric kei vehicle, at the Japan Mobility Show.

On the other hand, Chinese carmakers Geely, Nio, Xpeng, and Leapmotor all reported their best-ever monthly sales in October, while newcomer Xiaomi continued to perform strongly. Li Auto, however, recorded its fifth straight monthly decline in shipments. /TISG

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