Despite Launching Several Models Over The Past 2 Years, BYD Has Yet To Report Any Sales In South Africa

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BYD could have recorded some vehicle sales and chosen not to report them. Reporting is not mandatory, but it is still quite strange that it did not report any sales over the past 2 years.

BYD has been on a roll expanding into new markets around the world. It seems like we get news of BYD entering a new market every other day now. One of the latest ones was Sri Lanka. To support its global expansion initiative, BYD, along with its partners, have been commissioning dedicated ships to transport all those EVs around the world. The 6^th of these ships is ready now and should enter service soon.

BYD’s production and sales push at home and abroad is bearing fruit, with BYD now having sold the most battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) in the world for 2 consecutive quarters. In Q4 of 2024, BYD sold 595,413 BEVs, and Tesla was in second place with 495,570 units sold.

In Q1 of 2025, BYD was again the top selling brand globally for BEVs with 416,388 units, while Tesla was in second place with 336,681 BEVs sold. Of course, Tesla only makes BEVs, and BYD also makes PHEVs. Including PHEVs and commercial vehicles, BYD sold 1,000,804 vehicles. Having sold a million vehicles in one quarter, it looks like BYD is getting ready for another big year. In the passenger vehicle category, BYD sold 986,098 vehicles (BEVS plus PHEVs).

Part of this growth has been fueled by launching in a lot of markets around the world, and really doing some good work in markets where other large EV companies or legacy firms are, and not focusing a lot of their energy on promoting EVs in those markets. BYD’s strategy makes a lot of sense, because when you add up sales in all those markets, they all contribute to some good numbers that then help grow the overall sales figures. You can see the results as BYD’s export numbers keep growing. For example, in Q1 of this year, BYD exported a record 72,407 passenger vehicles.

Singapore is a fine example of where BYD is seeing great progress. BYD’s progress has been so good there that in 2024, it was the top selling brand in the overall market, beating all traditional ICE brands that used to dominate in that market. BYD surpassed traditional brands such as Toyota and went on to register 6,191 units in 2024 in Singapore. In Malaysia, BYD is off to a good start in 2025, topping the EV sales charts during the first two months of the year with 1,139 vehicles sold in Malaysia during that period. Australia is another market where BYD is doing well. Spurred on by the new BYD Shark 06 PHEV Ute (pickup), BYD registered a new sales record for itself in March with 4,811 units. 2,810 of these were the BYD Shark 06. The Shark 06 has been so well received in Australia that in March it was the 6^th bestselling vehicle in the country across all fuel types/powertrains.

I intentionally picked those markets (Singapore, Malaysia, and Australia), because these are markets that could be close to or relate better in the context of the South African auto market in terms of size and annual vehicle sales and also the general range of EVs available. With BYD doing very well in those markets, one would expect it to do well in South Africa as well, right? How well is BYD doing in South Africa? We don’t know, as BYD is yet to report any sales even though it has launched several models in the South African market over the past 2 years. Some of the models launched in South Africa include the ATTO 3, the Dolphin, and the Seal.

Official vehicle sales figures for South Africa show that the electric mobility space is starting to show signs of significant traction in several areas. Sales of BEVs breached the 1,000 units per year mark in the country for the first time ever in 2024. Last year, 1,257 BEVs were sold in South Africa, up 35% from 929 units sold in 2023. However, not a single BYD sales was reported last year as well. Anecdotally, one can spot a BYD vehicle here and there, once in a while in Gauteng, for example, but we have no official reports of sales in South Africa. Volvo and BMW group models dominate BEV sales in South African BEV sales charts. Other OEMs are reporting their sales figures, why isn’t BYD reporting its sales figures? Are these sales lower than expected  in South Africa? I’m not sure, but if the sales were looking good, wouldn’t the company be proud to showcase them as it has done in other markets? It’s still early days, perhaps, but it would be good for BYD to publish its sales figures like everybody else.

Today, BYD launched several models in South Africa. These new models are the Shark 06 pickup, the Sealion 7, and the Sealion 6 PHEV. It will be good to see how South Africans respond to the launch of the Shark 06, as they love pickups just like in Australia, and of course in the pickup capital, the USA. In South Africa, the Toyota Hilux, the Ford Ranger, and the Isuzu D-Max are some of the most popular vehicles. These vehicles are also extremely popular in Australia. Interestingly, in just its first full month of sales in Australia, the BYD Shark 06 has already overtaken the Isuzu D-Max on the Australian sales charts. So, a popular diesel Ute has already been overtaken by a PHEV on the sales charts. Could the same thing happen in South Africa? Let’s wait and see. But first we need BYD to publish its sales figures. We have reached out to BYD on this several times and haven’t received any responses on South African sales figures.

I am sure BYD could do well in this market even in a tough environment with higher import duties for EVs than in some of the markets it operates in. Volvo and others are making commendable sales in the same environment, so it’s possible. Also, South Africans are generally well informed and would know of a big brand such as BYD even if it is a fairly new brand in that market. Other Chinese brands (ICE brands) have been entering the South African market and doing well, and more importantly, comfortably reporting their sales figures. For example, in the top ten sales charts (ICE), Chery and Haval feature prominently. So other Chinese OEMs are reporting their sales figures.

Is BYD doing well in South Africa so far? We don’t know, we will only know once they start reporting their sales figures. Hopefully, the BYD Shark and other new models will kickstart sales to levels the company feels are worth reporting.