BYD boosts global ambitions by exporting first batch of 1,000 Atto 3 SUVs to Australia

BYD, the Chinese carmaker that recently overtook Tesla as the world’s largest electric vehicle (EV) maker, has boosted its go-global ambitions by sending its first shipment of 1,000 Atto 3 sport utility vehicles (SUVs) to Australia.

The Shenzhen-based carmaker, which is backed by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, said on Wednesday that the SUVs would be sold for between A$44,990 (US$32,350) and A$47,990. The SUV, which is known as Yuan Plus in the mainland Chinese market, is the first vehicle BYD has designed and made for the global market.

BYD dethroned Tesla as the world’s largest EV maker by selling about 641,000 pure EVs and plug-in hybrid cars in the first six months of this year, an increase of more than 300 per cent from the same period a year ago. Tesla, in comparison, sold 564,000 Model 3s and Model Ys worldwide in the same period.

Production and sales at Tesla were hit by Shanghai’s two-month long Covid-19 lockdown. The US carmaker sold 254,695 cars and SUVs from April until the end of June, an 18 per cent drop over the first three months of the year, as a result.