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recently, it was reported that byd will launch a 7-seater model - tang in japan to enrich its product matrix currently on sale in japan. in addition, byd han and qin will also be launched in the japanese market. "byd's model launch in the japanese market will be adjusted according to market preferences. it has not yet been determined to be 'tang'." on september 25, the relevant person in charge of byd replied to the reporter of "daily economic news".

compared with independent brands such as great wall motors and chery automobiles, byd's new energy passenger vehicles entered overseas markets relatively late. in the second half of 2022, byd will begin to expand into overseas markets on a large scale. in july 2022, byd announced its official entry into the japanese passenger car market. the first batch of models launched were the domestic best-selling models yuan plus, dolphin and seal, corresponding to atto 3, doplhin and seal respectively. in january 2023, byd's three models will be launched in the japanese market.

image source: disheng piaoyang (byd’s official public account)

"since byd officially launched its models in japan in january 2023, sales have maintained steady growth." the relevant person in charge of byd mentioned above said that so far, byd has built 58 sales points in japan and will complete 90 sales points by the end of 2024. in terms of point construction, it is planned to build 100 sales points next year.

in october last year, byd chairman wang chuanfu and his senior management team went to japan to have in-depth discussions with local dealers, demonstrating byd's enthusiasm for the japanese market.

public information shows that byd aims to sell 30,000 electric vehicles in the japanese market every year by 2025 and establish a network of 100 dealers. this means that each byd dealer outlet in japan needs to work hard to sell 300 cars (25 cars per month) to achieve the set goal.

picture source: di sheng piaoyang

public data shows that in the first half of this year, byd’s cumulative sales in japan were 980 vehicles. calculated based on the currently constructed 58 offline dealer outlets, there is still a big gap between the monthly sales of 25 vehicles per store.

in addition to byd, baic new energy also plans to launch a high-end smart electric polar fox model for the japanese market this year. in october 2023, baic new energy and the japanese company turing officially signed a letter of intent for cooperation. the first cooperation model between the two parties is based on the polar fox alpha s. turing will make intelligent changes to meet the travel needs of the japanese market and plans to enter japan in 2024. market sales.

not only that, hongguang miniev, a subsidiary of saic-gm-wuling, has also been rumored to enter the japanese market many times, but so far no official information has been disclosed.

it is worth noting that although japan is an important global automobile market, its current electric vehicle penetration rate is still at a low level. according to preliminary data from the japan automobile dealers association and other organizations, in the first half of this year, domestic electric vehicle sales in japan were approximately 29,300 units, a year-on-year decrease of 39%. overall, electric vehicles accounted for 1.6% of the total japanese passenger car market in the first half of 2024, a decrease of 0.7 percentage points from the same period last year.

not only that, according to statistics from the british elsey automotive market consulting company, pure electric passenger cars will account for only 1.7% of japan's total new car sales in 2022, far lower than china's 19% and europe's 11%. "japan's traditional car companies produce fuel vehicles with large sales and high profits, and lack the motivation to transform." masashi chengzuka, a researcher at the innovation and development strategy center of the japan research institute, explained to the public.

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