'Chinese Tesla' sees strong start to 2025 BYD — BYD’s Sealion 7, which will be launched in South Africa this year

BYD, China’s top-selling car brand, maintained its strong start to the year, posting another jump in monthly sales in February as rivals only held ground or slipped back.

BYD sold more than 318 000 pure electric and hybrid passenger vehicles last month, up 161% year on year, and also higher than January’s sales. The car maker notched another record month for overseas sales, which hit 67 025 units.

The Shenzhen-based car giant’s nearest challenger, Geely Automobile Holdings, posted an 84% increase year on year to almost 205 000 vehicles in February, but fell below its January total.

Among the EV upstarts, Xpeng, Li Auto and Nio largely mirrored January’s sales performance in February.

Meanwhile, smartphone maker Xiaomi, which burst onto the car scene with strong sales, says it delivered more than 20 000 SU7s last month for the fifth consecutive month. The company also said on Friday that it received more than 10 000 pre-orders for its high-end SU7 Ultra EV in two hours. The most expensive model in its SU7 Series, it costs the equivalent of R1.4-million.

Separately, BYD and Chinese drone maker DJI Technology on Sunday formally unveiled a vehicle-mounted drone in a further attempt to boost the attractiveness of its battery-powered cars. Last month, BYD added advanced driver-assistance features across most of its lineup for no extra cost.