BYD shows real potential. Will it sell 500,000 plug-in cars in 2019?

BYD did its best in December showing stunning sales performance. The Chinese company sold 37,010 passenger plug-in electric cars, which surprises even those who expected an unprecedented month! It's 133% more than a year ago and the 7th straight record! December's result was also 8,271 higher thathe n previous record in November.

Plug-in car sales stands for 81% of overall car sales for the brand. If only BYD would be able to keep suca h rate for 12 months, annual sales would be close to 450,000.

The total, sales of BYD cars in China increased this year to 227,152 (up 109% year-over-year), and far exceeded the goal of 200,000.

It's not enough to stay the best-selling plug-in car manufacturer in the world (Tesla delivered around 245,240 all-electric cars), even if we would assume a minor number of BYD sales outside China.

However, BYD said that the total plug-in electric vehicle sales amounted 247,811 (more than Tesla), when taking into consideration 20,659 commercial vehicle (buses, trucks). We are however sceptical of such a comparison.

December 2018 brings big numbers for particular models - BYD offers six plug-in models and two of those models are available in both BEV and PHEV versions.

Four cars noted all-time records, with e5 and Yuan BEVs exceeding 8,000 in a single month! The plug-in hybrid Tang is approaching 7,000.

BYD sales breakdown:

Qin PHEV – 4,654 (new record)and 47,425 YTD

(new record)and e5 – 8,234 (3rd straight new record) and 46,213 YTD

(3rd straight new record) and Song PHEV – 4,544 and 39,318 YTD

and Tang PHEV – 6,807 (4th straight new record) and 37,146 YTD

(4th straight new record) and Yuan BEV – 8,021 (7th straight new record) and 35,699 YTD

(7th straight new record) and Qin BEV – 1,345 and 10,527 YTD

and e6 – 2,096 and 6,508 YTD

and Song BEV – 1,309 and 4,316 YTD

Comparison of BEV and PHEV sales: