BYD not looking to localise in India, studying hybrids but will stick to selling EVs for now, ET Auto

Rajeev Chauhan, Head of Electric Passenger Vehicles, BYDNew Delhi: Chinese automaker BYD is not looking to locally manufacture or assemble its cars in India and will continue to sell them as fully imported and functional vehicles via the CBU (Completely Built-Up Unit) route, said a top company official on Tuesday.

“We will stick to our plan of importing in India, for at least the near future,” Rajeev Chauhan, Head of Electric Passenger Vehicles, BYD told ETAuto. He was speaking on the sideline of the eMAX 7 MPV.

BYD is a young company in India and should at least get five years to gauge the market demand and make a mark, he said.

Further, Chauhan denied any ongoing potential talks for a joint venture with an Indian company. This comes as media reports suggested BYD was in talks with the Adani Group and Reliance to build local manufacturing. “There is no partnership in play with the local players,” he said.

Early this year, ETAuto reported how BYD wants to ‘stabilise’ itself in India.

In CY2022, the company sold 1,200 cars in the country, and in CY2023, sales grew to 2,500 units. During the first nine months of CY2024, it has sold 2,000 units and wants to close the year with around 3,500 cars.

Feasibility of hybrid technology

When asked about the recent slowdown in demand for EVs globally, Chauhan said it would be a little early to really declare that as “EV is the technology for the future and it has to come.”

Talking about the possibility of introducing hybrid technology for India, he is quite confident and will “stick to EVs for the time being”.

“We really want to concentrate on the gaps which are there in the premium segment, and stick to our game plan of spotting the opportunity. At the moment, we are not looking at (introducing) hybrids at all, but we are studying the customer trends on hybrid and PHEV technology.”

The company will finalise its plans on introducing the technology by the next 6-8 months.

According to Chauhan, India is currently in the ‘early adopters’ phase of EVs. There is still some time to reach the next phase of ‘early majority’. However, he is confident that the government will be able to achieve its target of 30% EV penetration by 2030 in time.

eMAX 7 Launch

On Tuesday, the automaker launched its 6- and 7-seater electric MPV– BYD eMAX 7– based on its e6. The new model comes with prices starting at INR 26.9 lakh and goes up to INR 29.9 lakh (all prices, ex-showroom).

“The MPV segment is growing and accounts for about 9%-10% in overall passenger vehicles sales in the country. But there is no electric MPV in India yet, so we want to capitalise on that. eMAX7 is well suited for families who want to enjoy intercity travel,” Chauhan said.

The model is launched in two variants– Superior and Premium. Superior comes with a battery pack of 71.8 kWh, while the Premium variant packs a 55.4 kWh battery pack, returning 530 km and 420 km of range NEDC (New European Driving Cycle) tested, respectively.

BYD claims that the Superior can reach 0-100 kmph in 8.6 seconds and the premium variant does the same in 10.1 seconds. The vehicle comes with a wheelbase of 2,800 mm.

Having applied for the homologation process, the company aims to target 70% sales from the personal segment and about 30% from the fleet segment. It has received about 300-400 bookings by now.

“We have added all those features which are required by the customers for private use cases,” Chauhan said.

• Published On Oct 9, 2024 at 08:36 AM IST

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