BYD bullish on India’s passenger EV market

KOLKATA: BYD India, a subsidiary of Chinese vehicle manufacturer BYD is bullish on the evolution of the passenger electric vehicles (EV) market in the country and will come out with another model this year.

Sanjay Gopalakrishnan, senior vice-president of the passenger EV business of BYD India, said the company has sold 700 EV cars of a single model in 2022 and expects to sell 15,000 units of three models in the current calendar year. The company currently has two models – an SUV and a MUV. The third model will be launched in the sedan segment in October this year, he said.

BYD, the Shenzen headquartered Chinese conglomerate, is a leading manufacturer of electric vehicles. BYD India has an assembling plant in Chennai. Gopalakrishnan said the BYD cars are brought in semi-knocked-down condition to India and then assembled at the Chennai plant. BYD had initially introduced an electric bus in India in 2017, which it followed up with an electric passenger car in November 2021. Globally the company sold 1.8 million electric vehicles in 2022. “We expect to sell 15,000 units in 2023. This will be largely due to the adoption rate, which is increasing and charging infrastructure is picking up,” Gopalakrishnan said.

According to him, the penetration rate of electric vehicles in India is currently low. “By 2030, the optimistic projection of the size of electric passenger vehicles market is 30 per cent of the total which is 55 lakh to 60 lakh”.

By that year BYD India targets 40 per cent share of the country’s passenger EVs market, he said.

The company’s Chennai plant’s assembly capacity will be raised depending on the demand from the 15,000 units per annum at present. The Chinese company has so far invested USD 200 million in India and BYD India has 24 dealer points across India now, Gopalakrishnan added.