BYD's production fell for the second consecutive month in August, marking its first back-to-back decline since 2020, a clear indication that the Chinese electric vehicle giant is beginning to slow its pace of rapid expansion that has lasted for years.
BYD produced approximately 353,090 electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles last month, a decrease of 3.78% year-on-year, following a 0.9% drop in July. The last time the company experienced a continuous decline in production was in mid-2020.
Data indicates that BYD's sales in China dropped 14.3% year-on-year to 292,813 units, marking a decline for the fourth consecutive month. Despite this, the company's sales in global markets rose slightly, particularly in Europe where it is experiencing accelerated growth, but China still accounts for about 80% of BYD's total sales.
In the first eight months of 2025, BYD achieved only 52.1% of its annual target of 5.5 million units. This prompted analysts at China Merchants Bank International to reduce their sales forecasts for BYD by 5%, settling at only 4.9 million units this year, noting that the company has become more cautious in managing inventory.
This comes after BYD announced its first quarterly profit decline in over three years, reflecting the increasing pressures to maintain competitiveness amid its competition with companies like Tesla. Despite the pressures, BYD's sales of pure electric vehicles rose 34.4% year-on-year, while production increased by 26% in August, surpassing the sales of plug-in hybrid vehicles, which have continued to decline since April.
