BYD experiences best-ever sales month in Japan

KUALA LUMPUR: Japan is an open market wherein foreign cars enjoy no import tax, plus it is an extremely difficult market to penetrate.

More than 60% of the market is dominated by kei minicars which is a tax-deducted category and are highly competitive that no foreign company bothers to enter the segment. Overall, Japan makes a distinction between domestic cars and imports, as far as taxes are concerned.

Also, overnight charging is an issue in Japan because of the lack of dedicated residential parking space and heavy reliance on car lifts and turntables (which stack cars on top of one another). Thus making it the main reason for cars with overnight charging requirements not being successful in the country even though Japan is a battery EV pioneer.

Entered in the picture BYD, the brand strengthened its roots in the Japanese market not with passenger cars but with electric buses. In 2015, the brand introduced its intra-city bus in Japan which became part of the government's effort to tackle climate change.

This led BYD to establish a strong reputation in the country, making the brand an attentive prospect for Japanese customers. The Atto 3 was the first passenger car from the brand to enter the country in Jan 2023 and will be followed by Seal and Dolphin later this year.

With the issue of EV car parking still a major concern, BYD is fast becoming a preferred choice for prospective customers. In just three months, the Chinese automaker has become more popular than Hyundai. For instance, in March 2023, the brand delivered a total of 252 cars of which 208 were passenger cars (the majority being Atto 3). As for Hyundai, it delivered 162 zero-emission cars in the same time frame.

Overall, March was BYD’s best-ever sales month since the commencement of sales of Atto 3. It sold 159 cars in March, 56 units more than in February.

Here at home, the company recently celebrated the milestone of delivering 1000 units of Atto 3 in just 100 days.