China’s BYD to launch new premium electric car brand in 2023

SHANGHAI, Nov 8 (Reuters) – Chinese electric vehicle giant BYD said on Tuesday it would launch a new premium brand in the first quarter of 2023 under the name Yangwang, with its first model slated to be an off-road vehicle.

Vehicles produced under the new brand will be priced at between 800,000 and 1.5 million yuan ($110,287-$206,763), BYD added.

Having ditched gasoline vehicles from its product mix this year, BYD has been able to capitalise on a range of incentives for electric cars offered by the Chinese central government and local governments.

he automaker, which produces both pure electric and plug-in hybrid cars, has topped electric vehicle sales in the world’s biggest auto market, with sales more than tripling in the first 10 months of this year to 1.4 million, company filings show.

($1 = 7.2547 Chinese yuan renminbi)

Reporting by Zhuzhu Cui, Zhang Yan and Brenda Goh in Shanghai; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Jan Harvey