BYD Targets 5 Million Overseas Vehicle Sales in 2026 Despite US Import Bans and Profit Declines

BEIJING -- Stella Li, executive vice president of BYD, stated that the company will maintain its position as the world's largest electric vehicle maker despite barriers blocking Chinese carmakers from the US market. Washington has barred imports citing national security concerns and the need to protect American carmakers.

Li made the comments during an interview with CNN on the sidelines of the Beijing auto show earlier this week.

1 EV maker title from Tesla last year. The company, which began as a battery manufacturer in the early 2000s, holds nearly 20% of China's EV and hybrid market, according to industry data. " The restrictions may come under discussion next month when Chinese leader Xi Jinping hosts President Donald Trump in Beijing.

Li said she hopes the summit could lead to change. "You start a dialogue, then you see the business opportunity, then you should open up, because this is win-win," she said. Even so, BYD has no future plan as yet for its cars to enter the US market.

5 million vehicles overseas this year, up from about 1 million last year. The company has seen a surge of demand in markets such as Australia and Indonesia. Li attributed part of this to a global oil shock from the Iran war.

"It’s like a wake-up call for the people who never touch EV," she said. BYD recorded its first annual profit drop in four years in 2025, down 19%, and its net profit more than halved year on year in the first quarter of 2026. Demand for EVs in China has slowed after the government reduced consumer subsidies, amid a price war among rivals.

Industry analyst Lei Xing said, “There’s still no clear-cut winner. BYD, right? ” Geely overtook BYD in domestic car sales by unit in the first quarter of 2026, industry data shows. Victor Yang, Geely senior vice president, said he was quite confident of the company keeping its momentum with the right products in the pipeline and consumer trust.

Li emphasized global expansion as key to BYD's strategy. "Not only the Chinese market – the global market, is our target," she said. She launched BYD’s first overseas outpost in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, in the late 1990s, and the company opened its first North America headquarters in Chicago in 2000.

In 2013, BYD opened an electric bus facility in Lancaster, California. More recently, BYD opened a production hub in Thailand in 2024 and inaugurated a Brazilian factory last year on a site previously occupied by Ford.

The company plans to open another plant in Indonesia and has a forthcoming passenger-car manufacturing plant in Hungary. In Europe, registrations of new BYD cars grew more than 150% year on year in the first quarter of 2026 to more than 73,000 units, industry data shows. That figure trailed Tesla by around 5,000 units.

BYD aims to build 6,000 flash charging stations overseas within 12 months. Li said these stations allow cars to charge from 20% to 97% in 12 minutes, even in subzero temperatures. "That will be a big game changer for BYD," she said.

Another game changer, Li added, is continuing to invest in the hardware and software to power rapidly advancing self-driving technologies. The company is eyeing those investments to make us more powerful in the future, when the AI is more mature. Li described efforts to localize BYD cars for different markets, including the Denza Z9 GT luxury sports car displayed at the Beijing auto show.