Malaysia-bound BYD topples VW to become China's best-selling brand in November 2022

Though a Nissan is China’s best-selling car, the best-selling brand for years in the Middle Kingdom is Volkswagen but in November 2022, that streak ended. According to data, BYD became China’s best-selling car brand that month with 152,863 vehicles sold.

Data from China Merchants Bank International (CMBI) revealed that BYD’s sales in the first four weeks of November (1- to 27-Nov) 2022 rose by 83 per cent compared to the same period last year.

Meanwhile, Volkswagen sold 143,602 units in November 2022, a 0.3 per cent drop from the same period in 2021.

BYD wasn’t the only EV maker seeing a rise in sales in November. Tesla’s retail sales that month also nearly doubled from a year ago following price cuts and incentives offered on the Model 3 and Model Y.

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This is the first time BYD has topped the sales charts in China ever since it started manufacturing cars in 2003. Besides that, BYD also holds the achievement of being the first carmaker with a line-up of plug-in hybrids (PHEV) and fully electric vehicles (EV) to take pole position in the sales chart of the world’s biggest automotive market.

However, the country’s controversial Zero-COVID policies have led to a drop in overall car sales. CMBI’s data has shown that overall car sales in China fell 7% year-on-year in average daily sales in the first 4 weeks of November compared to a 2% decline in the first 3 weeks of October.

Global automakers aside from Tesla have been losing sales and market share to China’s domestic brands. The Jeep joint venture in China has filed for bankruptcy while plants operated by the likes of Volkswagen, General Motors, and Hyundai have seen their usage fall in the past 5 years.

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BYD which stands for “Build Your Dreams” is also making a global onslaught with its range of EVs. It will be launching in Malaysia soon with a two-car line-up consisting of the BYD e6 electric MPV and the BYD Atto 3 electric SUV. The latter has seen overwhelming success in Thailand with buyers lining up overnight to get their hands on one.

Also read: BYD Rever Thailand explains why Thais lined up overnight to buy the BYD Atto 3