Chinese vehicle maker BYD is celebrating production of its 15 millionth New Energy Vehicle (NEV).
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BYD NEVs encompass both pure-electric BEVs and electrified models featuring breakthrough Super Hybrid with DM technology.
Employees marked the latest achievement with a ceremony at BYD’s Jinan factory in China, which commenced mass manufacturing three years ago.
The 15 millionth NEV to leave a BYD production line was the 15,000th example of the N8L, a large six-seat SUV from BYD’s premium technology-led brand DENZA. It utilises the same Super Hybrid and e3 (‘e-cube’) platform as the Z9GT, the shooting brake that will lead DENZA’s introduction to Europe in 2026.
BYD made its first New Energy Vehicle, the F3DM, as the world’s first mass-produced plug-in hybrid in 2008. It took 13 years to manufacture the first million NEVs, but BYD’s rapid recent expansion means it has jumped from 10 million to 15 million cumulative NEV sales in just 13 months. The 14 millionth NEV rolled off the line as recently as 9 October 2025.
BYD says that total production for the first 11 months of 2025 totals 4.182 million vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 11.3%. Overseas sales in the same period reached 917,000 units, surpassing the total achieved in the whole of 2024, and BYD’s global footprint spans more than 110 countries and regions.
In the first three quarters of 2025 BYD says it has invested RMB 43.75 billion (5.3 billion euros) in R&D, up 31% year on year, bringing the total cumulative investment in R&D to more than RMB 220 billion (26.65 billion euros). This, it says, has produced innovations ‘in everything from battery chemistry and packaging to intelligent driving assistance and megawatt Flash Charging, which makes recharging as fast as refuelling and is also destined for introduction in Europe in 2026’.
BYD is now on sale in 33 countries in Europe, across 1000 points of sale. Plans are already in place, BYD says, to double the number of dealerships by the end of 2026.
