VFACTS: BYD sales in Australia finally revealed

Newly-launched Chinese car maker BYD has accounted for one in five electric vehicles sold in its first three months of deliveries, second only to Tesla, its first batch of sales data has revealed.

VFACTS industry sales data released today by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) lists 845 BYD electric vehicles reported as sold in its first three months of deliveries.

This is believed to place BYD – which currently only offers one model, the Atto 3 small SUV – as Australia’s second-best selling electric-car brand, ahead of the likes of MG, Hyundai and Polestar, and behind only Tesla.

The BYD Atto 3 is believed to place third or fourth on the leaderboard for the best-selling electric-car models, behind the Tesla Model Y (1805) and Model 3 (391), and the MG ZS EV (exact sales figures are unconfirmed, however the tally is estimated to be fewer than 700 over the same period).

The sales result is despite a stop-delivery notice in force for three weeks from October 21 to November 11, as BYD’s local distributor EVDirect worked through concerns with federal regulators over the Atto 3's compliance with Australian motor vehicle regulations.

The notice was issued after the child-seat top tether point for the centre rear seat was found to be hidden below the carpet, breaching compliance rules for five-seat passenger cars including the Atto 3, which require these tether points to be accessible without the use of tools.

Compliance concerns were also raised with the ISOFIX child-seat mounting points on the front passenger seats, as it is illegal for child-seat restraints to be fitted in the front seat of passenger cars in Australia. The distributor says these ISOFIX points have been “disengaged”.

BYD and its local distributor EVDirect claimed it planned to provide its sales data for the FCAI’s monthly VFACTS sales reports for September and October, but missed both deadlines.

The figure of 845 BYD sales over the first three months of deliveries differs from the data sourced by Drive last month for the first two months on sale, which listed approximately 890 examples of the BYD Atto 3 according to vehicle registration records.

This is believed to be due to the stop-delivery notice, which when issued on 21 October 2022 left fleets of just-registered BYD Atto 3 vehicles – many days or hours away from customer delivery – waiting in holding yards while the compliance concerns were cleared.

This means the number of BYD Atto 3s delivered to customers in September and October was substantially lower than the number registered over the same period.

The latest VFACTS sales report does not break down monthly data for BYD – instead grouping all three months of deliveries, as is common practice when new arrivals post sales figures for the first time.

With three months of BYD deliveries combined, VFACTS data lists 4457 electric vehicles as sold (referring to deliveries, not orders placed) in November, up 685 per cent compared to the same month last year.

With Tesla’s sales data excluded – as it did not report sales to VFACTS this time last year either – the growth percentage drops to 298 per cent.

Tesla remained atop the electric-car sales charts last month, reporting 2196 vehicles – or half of all electric-car deliveries – across 391 Model 3 sedans and 1805 Model Y SUVs.

This represents a ramp-up in deliveries, after only 1109 Tesla vehicles were reported as sold in October – down from its record result of 5969 in September, and 3397 in August.

November sales data for the full list of electric vehicles is yet to be confirmed, however highlights known so far include 240 Polestar 2 sedans and 61 BMW iX SUVs.