Electric vehicle upstart BYD will soon be reporting its Australian sales figures to VFACTS, according to its local distributor.
Luke Todd, managing director of the local distributor for BYD, confirmed to CarExpert data about how many BYD cars are being delivered to customers will start appearing in the monthly VFACTS report, collated by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI), in either September or October.
With around 4500 orders and the ability to build around 3000 cars per month for Australia, BYD has the potential to grow local electric vehicle sales significantly.
It’s debuting with the Atto 3 SUV Extended Range, with the more affordable Standard Range to join the line-up late in 2022 or early in 2023. The first Atto 3s are now with their Australian owners.
In addition to the Atto 3 Standard Range, Mr Todd confirmed the Tesla Model 3-rivalling Seal sedan and Dolphin small hatchback will go on sale in Australia late this year or early in 2023, ahead of deliveries kicking off in 2023.
Exact delivery dates will be announced shortly, while different names are likely.
The BYD Seal sedan is available in China with two single-motor variants, as well as a dual-motor AWD performance model. All feature BYD Blade battery packs of varying sizes. Claimed domestic driving range is between 550km and 700km.
The smaller BYD Dolphin, or EA1, is available in China with two single-motor powertrains and two battery packs. Australian target pricing is between $35,000 and $40,000, and it’ll be aimed at ride-share operators.
Tesla is the EV sales leader locally with 7037 sales to date in 2022, accounting for almost 50 per cent of the 14,524 electric vehicles delivered to Australians this year. In August, EVs accounted for a record 4.4 per cent of all new vehicle sales locally.
The inclusion of Tesla sales in VFACTS data is relatively new – the brand until earlier in 2022 refused to report sales, leaving VFACTS with an incomplete picture of the burgeoning EV market in Australia.
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