BYD says it is celebrating two years of unprecedented growth and investment in Europe at this year’s Paris Motor Show.

Speaking at BYD’s press conference at the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles, BYD Executive Vice President Stella Li highlighted the progress made by BYD since it made its official full European debut at the same event just two years ago.

“As the world’s leading new-energy technology company, over the past 30 years, we’ve always believed in using innovation to make technology accessible. Innovation is in our DNA and we have the largest R&D team in the world, with more than 102,000 engineers and 11 research institutes across the globe,” she said.

“We keep setting new records as we progress; last month, we announced that our nine millionth new-energy vehicle rolled off the production line. It took 13 years to get from zero to one million. But from seven million to nine million took us only six months.”

BYD says its Paris focus this year is on three key areas – the European debut of the Sealion 7 and the progress made in the two years since BYD first appeared at a major European car show, with a full line-up of models for the French public to experience.

The Sealion 7 is a mid-size pure-electric SUV that BYD says ideally suited to the European market. The car is the eighth new-energy vehicle (BEV and PHEV) to be launched by BYD in Europe, and the latest addition to the Ocean Series of models that includes the Dolphin, Seal and Seal U.

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In addition to the Sealion 7, BYD’s Paris stand features the French debut of the Yangwang luxury brand, with the U8 SUV.

The all-electric Seal is also on show. The Seal U DM-I has recently gone on sale across Europe, including in France, offering up to 1,080km of potential range, according to the company.

BYD’s entire range will be available for evaluation at BYD’s Test Driver Centre, right beside the Paris Expo.

BYD made its European motor show debut at the 2022 Paris Motor Show, with three initial models to offer European customers – the ATTO 3, the HAN and the TANG.

Speaking about the progress made in Europe in just two years, BYD’s European Managing Director Michael Shu said: “In 2022, BYD made our brand debut for Europe in Paris. Never ever had three pure-electric cars been launched here at the one time, and this showed BYD’s respect for the European market. Now, just two years later, we have eight models to offer.”

He added: “Our customers have been showing great interest in high-performance SUVs, so today, the Sealion 7 comes to Paris. Besides its Blade Battery, cell-to-body construction and our LFP battery chemistry, it is equipped with the world’s highest-speed electric motor in mass production, with a speed of 23,000RPM and 400 revolutions every single second. We are the only company to achieve such a record.”

BYD employs 900k globally

BYD Executive Vice President Stella Li used the Paris Show stage to confirm the latest growth numbers across the wider business. BYD is present in four main areas – electronics, batteries, cars and rail transit – and as it approaches its 30th anniversary of its founding, it now employs more than 900,000 staff around with world. Over 100,000 of these employees are engineers, BYD said. BYD maintains it applies for an average of 32 patents and receives 15 authorised patents every working day.

BYD’s passenger-car division continues to grow and the company delivered its millionth new-energy vehicle (BEV and PHEV) as recently as 2021, yet only a few weeks ago it notched up the production of its nine millionth – a landmark achievement, it says.