√Exclusive: China’s BYD already Australia’s second-best selling electric-car brand

Chinese car brand BYD is the second biggest seller of electric cars in Australia – behind Tesla – after just two months on sale locally, and despite a stop-delivery notice issued a month ago due to compliance concerns.

Newly-launched Chinese car brand BYD has become Australia’s second best-selling electric vehicle manufacturer in its first two months on sale, according to exclusive registration data obtained by Drive.

Data sourced from each Australian state and territory sourced by Drive reveals 889 BYD vehicles have been registered in its first two months of customer hand-overs (September and October 2022).

For now, BYD has only one model available locally, the Atto 3 small SUV.

The result means BYD – distributed in Australia by EVDirect – was the Number Two electric-vehicle brand on these specific months, behind Tesla’s record 7078 deliveries over the same period, but ahead of the likes of MG and Hyundai.

When it comes to the sale of specific electric models, the BYD Atto 3 was the third-best selling electric vehicle (EV) in Australia over the same period, behind the Tesla Model Y (5435) and Model 3 (1643), and ahead of the fourth-placed MG ZS EV (300 to 400 estimated), Polestar 2 (331) and Hyundai Kona Electric (184).

Drive is awaiting confirmation of MG ZS EV sales data from MG Australia – however based on the sales data confirmed for other electric cars, no more than 500 MG electric SUVs could have been delivered across September and October.

It brings the total number of electric cars reported as sold in September and October 2022 to just over 10,000 – believed to represent the second-best two-month period for EV sales on record, behind only August and September 2022, which were Tesla’s best sales months on record after several shipments arrived at once.

The strong sales result for BYD is despite facing a stop-delivery notice for almost four weeks, as the distributor worked through concerns over the Atto 3’s compliance with Australian motor vehicle regulations.

The stop delivery notice was issued after the child-seat top tether point for the middle rear seat was hidden under the carpet, breaching compliance rules for five-seat passenger cars such as the Atto 3, which require child-seat anchors to be accessible without the use of tools.

There were also compliance concerns related to the ISOFIX child seat mounting points in the front passenger seat. It is illegal for child restraints to be located in the front seat of passenger cars in Australia. The BYD Atto 3’s front passenger seat ISOFIX locators have reportedly now be “disengaged,” the company says.

The stop-delivery notice was lifted on November 11, though some customers on social media claim deliveries won’t recommence in earnest until next week. The pause in deliveries is likely to impact BYD’s November 2022 sales data.

The Chinese car maker began deliveries of the Atto 3 at the start of September after a number of delays, from parts and shipping restrictions, to a slower than planned roll-out of BYD’s high-volume electric vehicles locally (at one point scheduled to occur in 2021).

Local BYD distributor EVDirect has previously claimed it would provide its sales numbers to the new-car lobby group, the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, which publishes monthly reports.

After local BYD sales data was not listed for September 2022, the company claimed it would release information for October 2022 – but it missed that deadline too.

The data obtained by Drive lists approximately 890 BYD passenger cars registered in Australia in September and October 2022 – including a small number of vehicles registered in August, which were among the first cars to be delivered locally at the start of the following month.

State by state, New South Wales and Queensland were almost tied for first place, with 234 and 235 registrations respectively, or about 25 per cent of the total.

Victoria followed with approximately 175 vehicles, ahead of Western Australia with approximately 125, South Australia with circa 75, and about 40 in Tasmania. Fewer than 10 BYD Atto 3s were registered in the ACT in September and October. All figures have been rounded.

No examples were registered in the Northern Territory, as BYD and EVDirect do not currently have any sales, service or vehicle pick-up locations in the region.

NT buyers shopping for an Atto 3 must pay an additional $1195 to have a vehicle shipped to their home from Queensland.

	BYD registrations from August to October 2022 (sourced by Drive.com.au)
ACT	9
NSW	234
NT	0
Queensland	235
SA	73
Tasmania	40
Victoria	175
WA	123
Total	889

Source: State and territory government registration data.

The post Exclusive: China’s BYD already Australia’s second-best selling electric-car brand appeared first on Drive.

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