Buffett-Backed BYD Starts to Sell Ful-Electric Vehicle in Japan Early 2023

BEIJING, December 6 (TMTPOST)— BYD Co., the Chinese electric vehicle (EV) company backed by Warren Buffett ’s Berkshire Hathaway, is ramping up overseas expansion.

BYD AUTO JAPAN Inc., announced ATTO 3, an electric sports utility vehicle, to go on sale on Jan. 31, 2023, starting to sell its first full-electric vehicle model in Japan next month. ATTO3, a model priced at 4.4 million yen (around US$32,636), boasts a cruising distance of 485 kilometers. BYD’s Japan unit plans to roll out two more models by the end of 2023 and authorize more than 100 dealerships in the country by the end of 2025. Atsuki Tofukuji, CEO of the division, said his company also plans to start tentative retailers in 22 cities late January and is keen on expansion to all 47 prefectures.

The on-sale date of ATTO 3 is roughly in line with BYD’s previous plan and other two models seem to be available on the Japanese market earlier. At an event in July, BYD Japan announced its entry into the passenger vehicle market in Japan to debut three models – BYD ATTO 3, BYD DOLPHIN and BYD SEAL, expected ATTO 3 to be on sale in January, while the DOLPHIN and SEAL respectively to be available for purchase in the middle and second half of 2023.

Source: BYD

The sales of EV in Japan came as BYD smashed monthly record and posted performance beyond homeland much better than expectation.

BYD said last Friday that its sold 230,427 vehicles in November, a new record for the ninth consecutive month, and the total sales this year from January to 1.633 million units, increasing 154.8% from the same period a year ago. With sales topped 200,000 units three months in a row, BYD met its annual target of 1.5 million vehicles this year a month earlier.

Out of the new record in November, the EV giant exported 12,300 passenger cars to overseas market, for the first time topping 10,000 units in a month. With 44,600 units of sales in total during the past eleven month, it has broken overseas sales record sequentially since it first disclosed sales in foreign countries in July.