BYD Weighs Formula 1 Move as European EV Boom Drives Record Exports

Chinese automaker BYD becomes top EV brand in UK as oil above $100 boosts European registrations 34%, but production bottlenecks and China price war drag profits down 55%.

The oil-price shock triggered by Middle East tensions has turned European car buyers into EV converts at a breathtaking pace, and no manufacturer is riding that wave harder than BYD. With crude holding above $100 a barrel since late February, electric-vehicle registrations across 16 core European markets surged 34 percent in April versus a year ago. BYD has seized the moment: it exported 135,000 vehicles that month, a record and a 70-percent jump, and in April it overtook Tesla, Kia, and every major European incumbent to become the best-selling EV brand in the UK. The Chinese automaker is now so confident in its global trajectory that it is exploring a Formula 1 entry, with talks underway to take a stake in the Alpine team or even launch an entirely new outfit. Former Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, who recently met BYD’s top brass in Cannes, is reportedly angling for an ownership role.

Yet the company’s production lines are struggling to keep pace. BYD is retooling its plants in Shaanxi and Anhui to fit the second generation of its in-house Blade battery into the new Yuan PLUS compact SUV, which launches on May 21. The switchover has created bottlenecks, crimping output just as demand takes off. Total April sales fell roughly 15 percent to about 321,000 vehicles, and deliveries in the first four months of 2026 dropped 26 percent year-on-year. To plug the gap, management is pouring vehicles into overseas markets: more than 30,000 units are slated to arrive in Australia by the end of June alone. The luxury offshoot Fang Cheng Bao offered a rare bright spot, with April sales climbing 190 percent to nearly 29,000 units.

The contrast with BYD’s home market could hardly be starker. A brutal price war in China has hammered margins, dragging first-quarter net profit down 55 percent to around $597 million. Goldman Sachs, however, sees that as the floor. The bank rates the stock a Buy with a 12-month price target of HK$134, and the consensus of 25 analysts stands at HK$124. They expect a gradual recovery quarter by quarter, fuelled partly by demand for models equipped with ultrafast charging technology.

The F1 talks add a new dimension to BYD’s already busy calendar. Besides a possible tie-up with Alpine, the group is eyeing Renault’s engine plant in France, and Horner’s involvement suggests the project could take a more direct ownership route than a simple sponsorship. Back on the road, BYD is counting on two pivotal launches in June—the Tai 7 and Bao 8—to regain the sales momentum it lost during the battery retooling. The Yuan PLUS, with its extended range from the updated Blade battery, is also expected to draw strong orders in Europe and China alike.

Meanwhile, BYD is constructing the manufacturing muscle to back its European ambitions. Test production is already humming at a new plant in Hungary, and a second facility in Turkey, backed by $1 billion in investment, is due to come online before the end of 2026. The luxury brand Denza has entered five major European markets—including Germany, France, and the UK—and plans to be present in 30 countries by year-end. On Germany’s Carwow platform, purchase inquiries for BYD models soared 25,000 percent in the first quarter. The big question hanging over the boardroom is whether this oil-driven EV spike is structural or cyclical—and how much of BYD’s European momentum will survive when crude prices eventually retreat.