China’s EV leader wants to close the year strong with a new sales promotion. BYD is now offering free car insurance on certain EVs ahead of the upcoming Chinese New Year. Will it be enough to take the global EV sales crown in 2024?
BYD offers free insurance on some EVs to boost sales
With a record 506,804 NEVs (EV and PHEV models) sold in November, BYD has now had two straight months with over 500,000 in vehicle sales.
The EV giant has no plans to slow down. On Thursday, BYD announced its latest “New Year GO New Car” sales promotion on its Weibo page.
From today, December 26, 2024, through January 26, 2025, BYD is offering free car insurance on select PHEVs and EVs in its Ocean and Dynasy lineups. The promo includes several top-selling EVs, including the Dolphin, Seal, and Sea Lion 07.
Through the first 11 months of 2024, BYD sold nearly 3.76 million NEVs, including 1.56 million all-electric models. The promo comes as BYD is in a tight race with Tesla for the global EV sales crown for 2024.
Through September, Tesla delivered 1.3 million EVs compared to BYD’s 1.17 million. Since Tesla doesn’t report monthly sales numbers, we will have to wait until the end-of-year numbers come out to determine who will take the EV sales crown in 2024.
The Seagull EV, BYD’s cheapest electric car starting under $10,000, was once again China’s best-selling vehicle last month after topping the Tesla Model Y. BYD sold 56,156 Seagull EVs last month alone in China.
Although the global EV sales race between BYD and Tesla is heating up into the end of the year, the Chinese EV leader is quickly outselling some of the largest global automakers.
BYD sold more vehicles globally than Nissan and Honda in the third quarter, and it is now closing in on Ford.