Everyone knows Chinese cars are cheapest in China. But who knew BYDs cost so much in some overseas’ markets?

BYD appears to charge some export markets far more - twice to almost three times as much - than it seeks in China for models that draw Kiwi attention.

China’s largest electric vehicle maker, which dethroned Tesla to become the world’s best-selling battery car brand in the final quarter of last year, does this to maximise profits to fuel a protracted and intensifying domestic price war, Reuters has claimed.

BYD New Zealand has not commented on the news agency’s claim about massive disparity, which it says is exposed by a review of BYD pricing in five big export markets.

One was Australia, where products under scrutiny - the Atto 3 (above) and Dolphin sports utilities and Seal sedan (below) - are also sold in New Zealand.

Historically, BYD prices have been slightly higher here than in Australia.

However, regular recommended retails are not effecting at the moment.

BYD NZ has been among many brands discounting and/or offering inducements - in BYD’s case, it’s dropped prices and also offers 20,000 kilometres’ Road User Charges and a home charger - in response to the new car market being in a severe nosedive since Christmas.

Last week it notified price cuts on the Dolphin and Atto 3 sports utilities. The Dolphin drops $3000 to $46,990 for the standard range and to $52,990 for the extended range. Atto 3 loses $4000, so is now at $52,990 for the standard and $55,990 for the extended. The flagship Seal sedan retains at $62,990 to $83,990.

Reduced battery costs were cited, but registrations are also dire.

April has been the worst month for sales yet, with electric brands used to reaping easy reward during the Clean Car rebate era now being deserted.

BYD NZ is among those coping with a significant change of fortune.

Monthly volume for Atto 3, its inaugural car, has plummeted as the brand enters its third year here.

Having been the second-most popular new EV here in 2023, when it claimed 3171 registrations, the compact model has achieved just 48 additional registrations year to date, including 10 added last month.

The Seal, which launched last year just as the rebate was curtailed, did better in April, contributing 16 registrations to a year-to-date tally of 79, with a total 138 on the ground since release.

The Dolphin - which arrived around mid-2023 - has struggled, with 27 registrations year to date to feed into a total carpark of 513.

Now comes the Reuters report, which perhaps might trigger customers to question if national distributor Ateco Group NZ has opportunity to leverage bigger price drops from the parent.

Thought about how that would be countered was sought in questions emailed to BYD NZ country manager Warren Willmot last Friday, but not responded to.

Reuters has also been unable to elicit comment from BYD global headquarters in Shenzen, a city in China’s Guangdong province.

The news agency believes China’s largest electric vehicle maker’s goal is to rake in hefty profit margins the it cannot achieve on home turf, where brands - especially in electric sector - are engaged in fierce competition that centres on achieving lowest pricing advantage.

It notes that, even with this strategy, some Chinese carmakers are managing to undercut their competitors in the West.

Though it is common for car makers to charge slightly different prices for exports of the same or similar versions of a vehicle, Reuters suggests the sheer size of the price increase BYD charges in export markets is rare.

It quotes Sam Fiorani, vice president of global forecasting at AutoForecast Solutions, as saying “globally marketed vehicles are usually priced in a narrow range.”

By comparison, the Reuters analysis found, Tesla - which has a higher cost base than its Chinese rivals - sells its Chinese-made Model 3 for only 37 percent more in Germany than in China.

In addition to considering the situation in Australia, Reuters reviewed pricing published by BYD or its dealers in Germany, Brazil, Israel (which has Atto 3 and Dolphin only) and Thailand.

It said across those markets, the starting price for the Atto 3 ranged from 81 percent to 174 percent higher than in China. Dolphin prices ranged from 39 percent to 178 percent higher, and Seal prices from 30 percent to 136 percent higher.

It acknowledged comparing starting prices by market is complicated by regional differences in available trim levels. In some cases, entry-level exported vehicles examined by Reuters had slightly better equipment than the lowest-priced model in China.

The report nevertheless notes that, in cases where apples-to-apples comparisons were possible at various trim levels, BYD’s export prices typically were still much higher than in China.

Last week BYD posted its weakest quarterly profit growth since 2022 while also indicating its revenue growth slowed to the lowest level in nearly four years.

Car companies in China are expected to launch 110 new EV and plug-in hybrid models in China this year, which will fuel more competition and more price cuts, experts believe.

Consumers have an appetite for these. Of the 30 million cars sold in China last year, almost 9.5 million were plug-in electric, out of which 6.3m were fully electric. That was 30 percent of the market, up 46 percent year-on-year and more electric cars than the rest of the world combined.

Another electric vehicle website, CarTechnica, on reporting the Reuters findings said that with a portfolio of different models at a variety of price points, BYD has ramped up efforts to move upmarket while doubling down on discounts to vie for cautious consumers amid a sputtering economic recovery.

In a recent research note, Goldman Sachs forecast lower profits for electric vehicles made in China this year compared with 2023 and said it was possible the industry’s profitability could turn negative if there are further price cuts.

Reuters says BYD’s big export markups also underscore the massive cost advantages China’s EV industry has over foreign competitors.

BYD has squeezed costs from every stage of production, from raw materials, to batteries, to land, and labour, according to experts on China’s auto industry and battery cost data provided to the agency.

Hiking export prices gives BYD room to generate much larger profits per vehicle, experts in EV manufacturing costs told Reuters, but those margins also give the automaker enormous flexibility to cut prices if needed to grab market share abroad in those foreign markets.