BYD hit by port delays, but expects sales to increase

BYD sales slumped in January, and the brand has blamed a lack of supply for the drop.

Compared to January 2024, BYD deliveries were down by 48.5 per cent. The Dolphin hatch was down 66.8 per cent to 85 units, the Atto 3 down 77.4 per cent to 105 units, and the Seal fell by a whopping 91.2 per cent to just 52 units.

BYD also delivered 433 Sealion 6 plug-in hybrid (PHEV) SUVs.

With a total of 675 deliveries overall, it finished 22nd on the new car sales charts, just behind Tesla which fell 33.2 per cent to 739 deliveries.

Not only was this a significant drop over January 2024, it was a huge fall from December 2024 when BYD delivered 1993 vehicles.

Hundreds of new car deals are available through CarExpert right now. Get the experts on your side and score a great deal. Browse now.

“Port delays affected all models in January, resulting in limited stock for delivery,” said a spokesperson for the brand.

“Additionally, January is traditionally a softer month due to the holiday period.”

Maritime Union of Australia workers went on strike during January at ports operated by Qube, including Port Kembla, Fremantle, Adelaide, Brisbane and Melbourne, though this was resolved within days.

While BYD says this impacted deliveries, it adds that its order bank is strong.

“Despite having no Shark 6s available for test drives, our order write exceeded expectations, making it one of our strongest months ever – particularly for Shark 6 and our EV models – driven by the introduction of MY25 pricing and the Essentials range,” said the spokesperson.

The introduction of new entry-level Essential versions of its Dolphin and Atto 3 – bringing their base prices under $30,000 and $40,000 before on-road costs, respectively – could juice sales for the electric hatch and SUV in 2025.

The Sealion 6 has also received a cheaper Essential variant, bringing the base price of the mid-sized SUV to $42,990 before on-road costs.

The BYD brand’s tally could have been higher had Shark 6 deliveries been included, however, the PHEV ute was missing from the VFACTS report.

“An administrative error meant we didn’t meet reporting requirements, but we’re pleased to have 450 Shark 6s on the road, which will be counted in February,” said a spokesperson.

Had the 450 Shark 6s been included in January’s results, BYD’s tally would have been 1125, putting it in 19th place overall.

This may just be a blip for the BYD brand, which has grown rapidly since the launch of the Atto 3 in 2022.

BYD sales grew by 488.6 per cent between 2022 and 2023, and by 64.5 per cent from 2023 to 2024.

This February, BYD will introduce a direct rival for Australia’s top-selling electric model – the Tesla Model Y – in its new Sealion 7.

The brand’s local distributor EVDirect has an ambitious target to topple Toyota by 2027… or for BYD to at least become a top three-brand in that year.

The distributor is targeting 45,000 BYD sales this year, with its CEO David Smitherman telling CarExpert late last year it planned to double its sales every year.

“[In 2023] we sold 12,500 vehicles and I’m very happy to go on record that year after year we’re looking to double those sales, so long as we can get the vehicles in market at the right time,” said Mr Smitherman.

BYD ended up delivering 20,458 vehicles in 2024, making it Australia’s 17th best-selling brand.

But even if BYD does double its sales each year, it wouldn’t be able to beat Toyota by 2027 at this rate unless the Japanese giant stumbled significantly.

Last year, Toyota delivered 241,296 vehicles in Australia.

MORE: BYD plans to outsell Toyota in Australia within three years