BYD's October sales hit 2026 high as EVs top 300,000

BYD had its strongest month of 2026 in October, and for the first time it sold more than 300,000 fully electric cars in a single month. The figures come from the company's monthly filing published on Sunday, 1 November, as compiled by CnEVPost.

The headline numbers

• Total new-energy vehicles: 490,168, up 10.97% year on year and 5.74% from September.
• Battery-electric passenger cars: 305,743, up 37.38%, a record for the third month in a row.
• Plug-in hybrid passenger cars: 177,382, down 17.23% year on year.
• Commercial vehicles: 7,043, up 45.22%.
• Exports: 170,194, up 102.84% year on year but down 5.81% from September.

It was BYD's sixth straight month of year-on-year growth, but growth is slowing: September's increase was almost 17%. October was the company's highest monthly total since December 2024.

EVs rise, hybrids fade

The mix is shifting quickly. Battery-electric models made up 63.28% of BYD's passenger car sales in October, compared with 50.95% a year earlier. Plug-in hybrids, which powered BYD's growth in 2024, declined for a second month in a row. If you're weighing the two types for yourself, our guide to hybrid vs plug-in hybrid vs EV explains the trade-offs.

Abroad strong, home market weak

Overseas sales remain BYD's growth engine. From January to October, the company exported 1,513,154 vehicles, up 93.75%. In China, it sold 319,974 vehicles in October, down 10.57% from a year earlier, and domestic sales for the first ten months are down 27.81%.

That matches the picture from BYD's recent results: our report on BYD's Q3 profit and exports shows how a price war at home is pushing the company abroad. Over the first ten months, total sales of 3,621,744 vehicles are still 2.16% below last year.

What's next

BYD keeps refreshing its core models. It launched the second-generation Seagull on 20 October and the third-generation Qin Plus DM-i on 27 October. According to CnEVPost, the second-generation Seal 07 sedan is due on 5 November with both electric and plug-in hybrid versions.