Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD reported another monthly decline in vehicle sales, marking its longest-ever downturn as demand in its home market remains subdued.
BYD’s vehicle sales fell 15.5% year-on-year in April, extending the streak to eight consecutive months of decline.
The figures were based on Reuters calculations using data from a Weibo post by company executive Li Yunfei.
The current slump surpasses the company’s previous longest downturn of six months, which occurred following the rollback of government EV subsidies that ended in December 2019.
Overseas sales show strong rebound
Despite weakness in China, BYD’s international business recorded strong growth.
Overseas sales rose 35% to 130,000 vehicles in April, reversing a 20.5% decline seen in March.
This rebound highlights the company’s increasing reliance on global markets to offset slowing domestic demand.
However, overall performance remains under pressure.
In a separate update, BYD’s vehicle sales declined 20.5% year-on-year to 300,222 units in the previous month.
While the drop was less severe than February’s 41.1% fall, it still signals persistent demand weakness.
Quarterly performance reflects ongoing pressure
The broader trend remains challenging.
BYD’s vehicle sales fell 30% in the first quarter compared to the same period last year.
This decline comes amid intensifying competition in China’s electric vehicle market.
Rivals such as Leapmotor and Geely have been closing the technology gap, eroding BYD’s dominance.
Although BYD was China’s largest automaker in 2025, it slipped to fourth place in the January–February period, recording its steepest decline since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Profit and margins come under strain
The company’s financial performance has also weakened.
BYD reported a 19% drop in net profit to 32.6 billion yuan ($4.72 billion) in 2025.
This marked its first annual decline in four years and exceeded analysts’ expectations of a 12.1% drop, based on LSEG data.
Revenue growth slowed to 3.5%, the weakest pace in six years.
For the December quarter, profit declined 38.2% to 9.3 billion yuan, extending a three-quarter streak of falling earnings.
Margins have also come under pressure.
Gross profit margin from automotive and related products fell to 20.5%, down 1.8 percentage points from the previous year.
Price competition weighs on outlook
BYD continues to face intense pricing pressure in China’s EV market.
Aggressive discounting across the sector has impacted profitability, while softer domestic demand has added to the challenges.
The company has responded with cost-cutting measures, reducing its workforce by 10.2% to 869,622 employees by the end of 2025.
Analysts, said the earnings outlook remains challenging, with competition and demand weakness likely to continue weighing on margins.
Global expansion seen as growth driver
Amid domestic headwinds, BYD is focusing on international expansion as a key growth strategy.
The company told analysts during its post-earnings call that it is “highly confident” of achieving its 2026 overseas sales target of 1.5 million vehicles, or potentially higher.
The company had earlier set an export target of 1.3 million vehicles for the current year, lower than earlier expectations of up to 1.6 million units shared with Citi in November.
Overseas sales are becoming increasingly significant.
Their share of total sales more than doubled to 22.7% last year and rose further to 50% in the first two months of the current year.
BYD is also expanding production capacity abroad.
Its factories in Europe and Indonesia are expected to begin mass production around March or April.
This strategy reflects BYD’s broader effort to offset slowing growth in China by strengthening its global footprint.
