BYD Posts Steepest Monthly Sales Decline Since COVID Amid China Price War

Reuters reports that Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD saw its global sales fall at the sharpest pace in six years in February, as a bruising price war at home deepened a months-long slump for the world's largest EV maker.

Sales fell by 41.1% compared to the same month a year ago, marking the sixth straight month of decline, the company disclosed in a stock exchange filing on Sunday. The drop was the most severe since February 2020, when pandemic lockdowns paralysed China's economy.

The Lunar New Year holiday typically distorts first-quarter sales figures, and this year's effect may have been amplified by China's extension of the festive break to a record nine days. But the slide runs deeper than seasonal volatility. BYD's combined January–February global sales were down 35.8% year-on-year, the worst start to a year since 2020.

Overseas markets offered some cushion — the company shipped 100,600 vehicles abroad in February, posting year-on-year growth. The home market, however, told a different story: domestic sales fell 65% to 89,590 units, worsening from a 53.2% year-on-year decline in January, the month in which rival Geely displaced BYD as China's top-selling automaker.

In India, where BYD has operated for over four years, the picture is markedly more positive. The company sold approximately 5,400 units in 2025, up 88% year-on-year, ranking fifth on the country's EV sales charts, according to industry data. It currently offers four models — the Atto 3, eMax 7, Seal, and Sealion 7 — all imported as fully built units.

Fighting Back at Home

To defend its position at home, BYD has matched Tesla's seven-year low-interest financing scheme introduced in January, a move that reflects the intensity of competition across China's auto sector. The company is also expected to unveil significant technology upgrades later this month, as rivals narrow the gap in product features.

Chinese regulators have stepped in as well, tightening rules around pricing practices and cracking down on the practice of exporting new vehicles as used cars — measures aimed at nudging the industry away from a race to the bottom on prices.

Expanding Overseas

BYD and Geely are among the shortlisted bidders for a Nissan-Mercedes-Benz manufacturing plant in Mexico, Reuters reported last month, part of a broader overseas push by both companies to offset softening domestic demand.

In India, that push is taking on fresh urgency. BYD is weighing options to expand its local footprint, including assembling semi-knocked-down (SKD) kits domestically, according to people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg reported last month. The move would reduce import tariffs from 70% to 30% and help the company work around India's cap of 2,500 fully built imports per model per year. The company is also seeking local safety and regulatory certifications for additional models.