BYD to offer three electric models in Europe

BYD recently announced its market entry with passenger car models in a number of European countries. German media has now leaked exactly which models the Chinese manufacturer plans to offer in Europe. According to the report, BYD’s service in Europe will be purely electric.

According to German media reports, the three series planned for Europe are the all-electric SUV Tang EV that is already offered in Norway, the electric sedan Han EV and the Atto 3. The latter model is a compact SUV sold in China as the Yuan Plus.

The Atto 3 or Yuan Plus is the only one of the three European models based on BYD’s own 800-volt platform electric car platform called e-platform 3.0. The Tang EV and Han EV are still based on multi-energy platforms. In China, both models are also offered as plug-in hybrids. In Europe, the battery-electric versions all rely on BYD’s own Blade battery with LFP cells. BYD apparently plans to present the European versions at the Paris Motor Show in October.

The company does not want to name concrete sales targets for entering other European markets after Norway. Penny Peng, head of marketing at BYD Europe, has said at a press event in The Hague, that European customers would have to slowly get used to the new vehicle offering from China slowly. “We just have to be humble,” Peng said.

In Norway, where only the large Tang e-SUV has been sold in two different model years, BYD has so far sold around 2,200 units – though the Tang EV has not been priced as a cheap vehicle, BYD has been able to sell the vehicles for the equivalent of around 50,000 euros.

BYD has not yet revealed any details on the prices for the three models in Germany. It is assumed that BYD, as a newcomer, will position itself somewhat below the established Western manufacturers but will also offer more extensive equipment for a lower base price. In the case of the Atto 3, for example, this is likely to be the familiar electric SUV around the VW ID.4. This also fits in with BYD’s brand claim in China that they want to be suitable for the masses, but also fit the bill as a premium label.

In Germany and Sweden, BYD models will be sold in cooperation with the Hedin Group. This will also involve real dealers, only pure online sales. As the German trade newspaper Handelsblatt learned at the event in The Hague, other sales partners could be added in Germany in addition to Hedin due to the significantly larger population.

handelsblatt.com  (in German)