The electric vehicle market competition is heating up in Australia as BYD eyes Tesla's top spot, but it has a long road ahead to get there.
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BYD Australia is aware Tesla’s tight grip on the local electric vehicle (EV) market is loosening, and has aspirations to be the top electric brand in the country.
However, the Chinese marque has a long way to go before reaching – and retaining – the number one spot.
Speaking to Drive, BYD Australia Head of Product Sajid Hasan said the recent Tesla backlash presents an opening, but the brand is more focused on getting its own gameplan right, rather than what is happening with rivals.
“Irrespective of what happens at the top of other brands, we will be doing what we do,” Hasan said.
“The opportunity exists not so much because of the competitor, but because of our own products and what we’re doing in terms of our rollout and our pricing and our changing distribution model and our expansion growth plans.”
When only looking at EV sales, BYD’s tally drops to 8556 units combined of the Atto 3, Dolphin, Seal, and Sealion 7 – the latter two serve as direct rivals to the Model 3 and Model Y respectively.
This alienated Tesla’s traditionally left-leaning customer base, sparking protests against the brand in the US, and reported record trade-in numbers.
Coinciding with this, Tesla’s top-selling Model Y also transitioned into new model with the changeover period resulting in lower-than-usual vehicle sales.
As a result, BYD topped the EV sales charts in Australia in April with its Sealion 7, outselling the Model Y by nearly three-to-one.
However, with the facelifted model on-stream, Tesla Model Y sales again surged in May, not only topping the EV sales charts but also beating nearly every other new model to fourth place overall.
BYD is also now a fully factory-backed operation in Australia after taking over distribution control from EVDirect and has more EVs coming with the launch of the Atto 2 small SUV later this year, as well as its sub-brand that could also field a number of all-electric models.
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Tung Nguyen has been in the automotive journalism industry for over a decade, cutting his teeth at various publications before finding himself at Drive in 2024. With experience in news, feature, review, and advice writing, as well as video presentation skills, Tung is a do-it-all content creator. Tung’s love of cars first started as a child watching Transformers on Saturday mornings, as well as countless hours on PlayStation’s Gran Turismo, meaning his dream car is a Nissan GT-R, with a Liberty Walk widebody kit, of course.
