BYD joins the intensifying price squabble, drops prices for Seal and Song

Tesla started a true avalanche of prices falling down when it announced its new pricing strategy earlier this year. Many Chinese automakers followed immediately and now BYD decided that gloves are coming off and it’s bringing its own offers to the ring.

Any customer who places an order for a brand new BYD Song Plus will get a RMB 6,800 discount which translates to $980. Those ordering a brand new BYD Seal will get an even bigger discount of RMB 8,800 or $1,265. The offer is time-limited and the promotion only runs until the end of March.

BYD Seal and Song are two of the most popular vehicles the company sells. In February alone, the Song accounted for 52,400 units sold, which is nearly a third of all cars sold by BYD that month. That number contains all of the drivetrains though, which means some of the vehicles were hybrid and some were EREV.

BYD Seal on the other hand, sold 7,754 units in February which is nearly 3,000 more cars than in January.

Manufacturers dropping prices and offering discounts makes existing customers uneasy as it hurts the values of used cars as well. Unfortunately what Tesla started, has to continue until manufacturers can’t find any more room to wiggle.

Unlike Tesla, who has the biggest profit margins in the automotive industry, the Chinese automakers struggle to be profitable with only the biggest ones having some space to breathe. China is known for heavily subsidized auto market, but even subsidies will eventually run out leaving some automakers in red.

Via