Sales record sets the UK apart as the largest international market for BYD outside of China for the first time. The Seal U SUV continues to lead BYD’s sales charts and is the UK’s best-selling plug-in hybrid electric vehicle in the year-to-date.
07 Oct 2025 | 11696 Views | By Ajit Dalvi
A day after the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) announced that electrified vehicles had captured 51% of UK new car sales in September 2025, Chinese electric and hybrid vehicle manufacturer BYD, which is the world’s No. 1 EV maker, has announced that it has registered record sales ...
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A day after the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) announced that electrified vehicles had captured 51% of UK new car sales in September 2025, Chinese electric and hybrid vehicle manufacturer BYD, which is the world’s No. 1 EV maker, has announced that it has registered record sales in the UK last month.
BYD UK sold over 11,271 cars in September, representing a substantial rise of 880%, on a low year-ago base, which saw it also overtake legacy brands such as Renault and SEAT. In another mark of its success, the UK also became the company’s largest international market outside of China for the first time.
This brings BYD UK’s sales for the third quarter to over 16,000 units, compared to 10,000 in the second quarter of this year, with total CY2025 sales to just over 35,000 units. Having achieved 2% new car market share in only two years, the company’s total market share in September grew even stronger to 3.6% and now sits at 2.2% year-to-date.
The Seal U DM-i, which features BYD’s innovative dual-mode hybrid technology, remains the company’s best-selling model with 7,524 finding homes between July and September 2025, followed by the all-electric Sealion 7 with 2,599 cars sold. The Seal U DM-i continues to be the UK’s best-selling plug-in hybrid in 2025. In September 2025, 5,373 Seal U DM-I SUVs were delivered, accounting for 48% of BYD UK’s sales and 14% of overall PHEV sales (38,308 units).
According to the SMMT, two Chinese models – the Jaecoo 7 (6,489 units) and BYD Seal U (5,373 units – were ranked fourth and sixth, respectively, in the Top 10 best-selling models in September.
The BYD Seal U PHEV, with 5,373 units was the sixth best-selling model in the UK in September and accounted for 48% of BYD UK’s sales of 11,271 units. Chart: SMMT
Bono Ge, Country Manager, BYD UK commented: “To see us achieve our largest ever sales month in the UK is clearly fantastic, but to become the largest overseas market for BYD too, makes me immensely proud. With even more new plug-in hybrid and electric cars to be launched in the months ahead and having just celebrated our 100th retailer opening, the future for us in this country looks hugely exciting.”
Earlier this year, BYD, which is the world’s No. 1 EV maker, became the first car manufacturer globally to reach the production milestone of 13 million NEVs (new energy vehicles). BYD’s bold strategy to switch its entire model strategy across multiple brands to solely electrified powertrains (New Energy Vehicles are defined as pure electric or Super Hybrid with DM Technology) is in tandem with ever-increasing numbers of consumers seeking greener technologies worldwide. As a result, the growth from 10 million NEVs to 13 million NEVs took just eight months. For context, it took BYD 13 years to build its first million NEVs.
In the first half of 2025 (January-June), BYD sold a total of 2,145,954 new energy passenger vehicles globally, further cementing its position as the world’s top-selling NEV brand. Of these, 470,086 passenger vehicles and pick-up trucks were sold in overseas markets, including India, with year-on-year growth of 128.5% demonstrating BYD’s growing international footprint.
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