BYD cuts Fang Cheng Bao premium SUV prices as it takes China’s EV discount war up market

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‘As a market leader, BYD’s pricing strategy has a huge impact on the market and will force its domestic rivals to follow suit’, said Zhao Zhen, a car dealer

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Daniel Renin Shanghai

Published: 6:00pm, 30 Jul 2024Updated: 11:21pm, 30 Jul 2024

BYD has slashed the prices of its Fang Cheng Bao models as the battle for customers among Chinese electric vehicle (EV) makers reached the hallowed heights of premium marques.

All variants of the Bao 5 electric SUV saw price cuts of 50,000 yuan (US$6,883), representing a reduction of between 14.2 per cent and 17.3 per cent.

“Premium” refers to the category of vehicles priced above 250,000 yuan in China. Fang Cheng Bao, priced between 289,800 and 352,800 yuan before the current discounts, is one of the carmaker’s top brands after the flagship Yangwang marque.

This revives the bruising discount war in the world’s biggest car market. It comes on the heels of BMW’s move to increase car prices after a campaign of steep markdowns squeezed the German marque’s profit margins while failing to boost deliveries.

Fang Cheng Bao, established by BYD last year, began delivering the first model to mainland customers in November.

It is the latest model to be included in BYD’s low-price strategy, which the Shenzhen-based company launched in February to challenge conventional carmakers amid an acceleration in the pace of electrification.

On February 19, BYD fired the first salvo in the discount war, pricing the basic edition of its plug-in hybrid model – the Qin Plus DM-i – at 79,800 yuan, 20 per cent below its earlier quotation. It has since cut prices on nearly all its models by 5 to 20 per cent.