BYD posts first profit drop in four years despite record global sales

BYD finished 2025 as the world's best-selling EV brand, but the numbers behind the headline tell a more complicated story. The Chinese giant reported a 19% drop in net profit to CNY 32.6 billion (AUD 6.85 billion), its first annual earnings decline since 2021 despite revenue climbing 3.5% to a record CNY 804 billion (AUD $164 billion).

Global sales rose 7.7% to 4.6 million vehicles, but domestic sales fell almost 8% as competition from rivals including Xiaomi and Geely intensified in the second half of the year.

Overseas sales were the clear bright spot, surging 151% to just over one million units. BYD chair Wang Chuanfu described the Chinese auto market as having reached "fever pitch" and entering a brutal "knockout stage" suggesting a wave of consolidation is coming for the industry.

The pain has carried into 2026. In the first two months of the year, BYD's global sales dropped 36% with domestic deliveries down a steep 58% after the Chinese government wound back EV subsidies at the end of 2025. Exports, however, surged more than 50% over the same period.

In Australia, BYD is one of the country's fastest-rising brands. By the end of February 2026 it had moved to sixth overall on 10,324 sales, ahead of GWM on 9,198. The Sealion 7 electric SUV is the brand's top seller locally followed by the plug-in hybrid Shark 6 ute and the Sealion 6 PHEV.

BYD is targeting 1.3 million overseas sales in 2026 with Australia increasingly part of that export push. Whether the brand uses its financial pressure at home to sharpen local pricing remains to be seen, but buyers here could benefit either way.