Chinese automaker BYD has launched its third electric vehicle in Japan, the company announced on Tuesday. The sedan will be the company’s most expensive model to date in a market where consumers have long favored domestic brands.
The Shenzhen-based automaker said it is accepting orders for its flagship Seal EV in Japan starting on Tuesday, setting the suggested retail price for the rear-wheel-drive version in the country at 5.28 million yen ($33,111.75).
The model is priced in China from 179,800 yuan ($24,759.70).
BYD’s (an acronym for Build Your Dreams) expansion in Japan could be a concern for domestic automakers struggling with BYD and other Chinese electric vehicle brands in China.
The company has only launched battery-powered vehicles for the Japanese market, not cars with other drive technologies such as plug-in hybrids, which are major players in China.
At a Seal launch ceremony in Tokyo’s Shibuya neighborhood, BYD Auto Japan president Atsuki Tofukuji stated that the company’s sales in Japan have slowed down slightly from April to June of last year.
Sales were hampered, he told reporters, by a significant cutback in the electric vehicle subsidies that the company’s models are eligible for from the Japanese government in the April-starting business year.
According to a press statement from the company, there will be two versions available in Japan: one with rear-wheel drive and the other with all-wheel drive. Both will have an 82.56 kilowatt per hour battery pack.
The 640 km (398 mi) cruising range of the rear-wheel-drive model is surpassed by the 575 km cruising range of the 6.05 million yen all-wheel-drive variant.
BYD launched its electric vehicles, the Atto 3 and Dolphin, in Japan last year and has sold about 2,500 units since opening its first Japanese dealership in Yokohama in February 2023.
The company said it plans to add at least one new model to its Japanese lineup each year.
($1 = 159.4600 yen)
($1 = 7.2618 Chinese yuan)