The first sales numbers for new-to-Australia electric-car brand BYD are due early next month, the company’s Australian distributor EVDirect says.
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Electric-car newcomer BYD says it will publish its first batch of sales data in Australia in early November – a month later than many in the industry predicted – as deliveries for its first high-volume model ramp up.
BYD and its Australian distributor EVDirect have previously confirmed plans to publish its monthly sales data in VFACTS reports from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI), released at the start of each month.
But despite commencing deliveries of its debut Atto 3 small SUV in early September, no sales figures were included in that month’s report – and instead EVDirect says it is due to publish the first BYD Australia sales data in October’s report, which is released in the first week of November.
“We commence reporting on sales and deliveries in October [VFACTS],” EVDirect managing director Luke Todd told Drive this week.
It remains to be seen exactly how many cars BYD managed to deliver last month, as deliveries are still in the process of ramping up – but if activity on social media is any indication, it is likely to be in the hundreds, though possibly not challenging the 5969 deliveries Tesla reported last month.
Prior to launch, EVDirect said it had attracted 4500 orders for the Atto 3 – and had the capacity to produce up to 3000 examples of each of its models per month at BYD’s Chinese factory.
With deliveries of the Atto 3 Extended Range underway, next to arrive is the cheaper Standard Range variant, due towards the end of 2022, or start of 2023 following a delay in production.
Set to open for orders in late 2022 or early 2023 – ahead of first deliveries in mid-2023 – are two new models: the Dolphin city car, expected to become one of Australia’s cheapest electric vehicles, and the Seal sedan, a rival for the Tesla Model 3.
September’s VFACTS report listed 7247 electric vehicles (EVs) as sold last month – accounting for 7.7 per cent of all new vehicles sold, thanks to record deliveries for Tesla, which accounted for 80 per cent of all EVs sold.
