China’s largest automaker, BYD, reported a 12% year-on-year fall in global vehicle sales to 441,706 units in October, down from 502,657 units a year earlier, as the company continued to face sluggish demand for plug-in hybrid vehicles in its domestic market.

Global sales of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) continued to rise strongly during the month, by over 17% to 222,559 units, while sales of plug-in-hybrid vehicles plunged by 31% to 214,297 units. The company sold a further 4,850 commercial vehicles, up by 128% year-on-year.

BYD’s global vehicle sales were still up by almost 14% to 3,701,852 units in the first ten months of the year, reflecting mainly a strong performance in the first half of the year. This includes a 35% increase in battery electric vehicle sales to 1,828,462 units, while sales of plug-in-hybrid vehicles declined by almost 3% to 1,827,256 units. The company also sold 46,134 commercial vehicles globally year-to-date, up almost fourfold year-on-year.

BYD reported a 33% year-on-year drop in net profits to CNY 7.8 billion (US$1.1 billion) in the third quarter of 2025, the second consecutive quarterly decline, reflecting strong price competition in its domestic market and overseas.

Revenues fell by 3% to CNY 195 billion in the third quarter, while global vehicle sales fell by 1.8% to 1,114,192 units – marking the first year-on-year decline in over four years. In the first nine months of the year, revenues increased by 12.7% to CNY 566 billion, while net profits fell by 7.5% to CNY 23.3 billion.