BYD’s Two-Speed Reality: Export Records Mask a Brutal Domestic Slide

BYD hits record exports with 71% growth, but domestic sales drop 15% and net profit plunges 55% amid price wars and shrinking market share.

The numbers coming out of BYD tell two completely different stories. One is a tale of blistering overseas growth, with export volumes hitting fresh highs. The other is a grinding domestic retreat, where profits have collapsed and market share is slipping away.

April delivered a fresh record for BYD’s international business. The company shipped roughly 134,000 vehicles abroad, a jump of nearly 71 percent year-on-year. That takes the first-four-month export tally past 455,000 units — a figure that would have seemed unthinkable just a few years ago. The overseas push is now the single brightest spot in BYD’s otherwise troubled narrative.

Back in China, the picture is far less rosy. Total sales of new-energy vehicles came in at around 321,000 units in April — a modest uptick from March but a 15 percent drop compared with the same month last year. That marks the eighth consecutive month of year-on-year decline. The government’s decision to cap EV tax breaks at 15,000 yuan per vehicle has taken a toll, and BYD’s domestic market share has fallen to 7.1 percent, trailing both Volkswagen and Geely.

Profit Squeeze Intensifies

The first-quarter financials laid bare the damage. Net profit plunged 55 percent to 4.09 billion yuan, while revenue slipped nearly 12 percent to 150.2 billion yuan. The numbers still managed to beat analysts’ subdued expectations, but that is cold comfort for a company that has built its reputation on relentless growth.

The root cause is the brutal price war gripping China’s auto market. BYD has been slashing prices to fend off rivals like Xiaomi and Geely, and the strategy is working in volume terms — but only just. The margin erosion is severe, and the company is now testing whether it can reverse the trend. On May 1, it raised the price of its God’s Eye B driver-assistance system from 9,900 to 12,000 yuan, a small but telling move that signals a desire to boost per-vehicle revenue.

A New SUV Carries the Home Front

BYD is pinning its domestic hopes on a major model offensive. The centerpiece is the new Datang electric SUV, which racked up over 30,000 pre-orders on its first day after the Beijing launch. More than ten new models are slated for release in the coming months, all equipped with the second-generation Blade Battery that can charge from 10 to 97 percent in nine minutes.

The export target for the full year has been raised to 1.5 million vehicles. That ambition is driving expansion into Europe, Southeast Asia, and South America — the US market remains largely off-limits due to steep tariffs. In Brazil, BYD posted nearly 7,000 new registrations in April, a monthly record.

The Core Question

The central tension for BYD is whether its export boom can compensate for the domestic margin bleed. The first-quarter numbers suggest it is not there yet. Exports accounted for roughly 46 percent of total NEV sales, but the profit contribution from overseas is still being weighed down by the scale of the home-market price war.

Jefferies maintains a hold rating on BYD’s H-shares with a target of 105 HKD, based on a 2026 price-to-earnings multiple of 20. The next few quarters will reveal whether the export engine can rev high enough to pull the entire company out of its domestic rut — or whether the two-speed reality becomes a permanent drag.