Even though joint venture brands have been severely forced back by domestic brands in most market segments, the latter still have no intention of giving up.
Under the guidance of BYD Chairman Wang Chuanfu's thought that "this is not an era of big fish eating small fish, but an era of fast fish eating slow fish", BYD's "998" offensive has never stopped. Before the Qin L DM-i and Haibao 06 DM-i launched in May, many competitors had not reacted. On July 25, the "Shuangsong" family, also equipped with the fifth-generation DM-i system, was launched.
Corresponding to the rumors in the industry at the beginning of this year that "BYD insiders said that they would end the battle this year", this Shenzhen automaker may not need to wait until the last day of the year to end the battle.
This time, both Song L DM-i and 2025 Song PLUS DM-i new cars are launched in 5 models, with a price range of 135,800-175,800 yuan.
In terms of product strength, from blade batteries, DM technology, to Yisifang, Yunnian, and Xuanji architecture, these original technologies of BYD are moats that are difficult for competitors to cross.
Riding on the wave of new energy, Chinese brands' share in the SUV market is rising rapidly, and this figure has exceeded 55% in 2023.
At the press conference, BYD released a ranking of China's SUV sales from 2013 to 2021, showing that Haval H6 has won the SUV sales champion for 9 consecutive years. Through this picture, BYD is paying tribute to Great Wall, but there is also a "subtext" behind it that everyone can understand - in the new energy era after 2021, "BYD is already the champion."
Public data shows that the cumulative sales of BYD Song family have exceeded 2.6 million units, and it has been sitting on the throne of the SUV market for dozens of months, and it is the kind of champion that does not need to be preceded by an adjective.
The two cars launched this time are also equipped with the engine with a thermal efficiency of 46.06% on the Qin L DM-i. He Zhiqi, executive vice president of BYD and COO of passenger vehicles, reiterated at the press conference: "Although there are some minor incidents about this engine, it is indeed the engine with the highest thermal efficiency in mass-produced cars."
Thanks to this, the fuel consumption of the two new cars is 3.9L per 100 kilometers, and the range of a single recharge is 1,500 kilometers. In the media's actual test data released on the spot, the fuel consumption of the two cars is lower than the official nominal, and the range also exceeds 1,500 kilometers.
Let’s look at the price. Since the starting price of the old Song family models was 120,000 yuan, when the starting price was announced at the press conference as 135,800 yuan, the screams at the scene were not enthusiastic - at least not as surprising as the "998".
From BYD's own pricing system, this move may be to make room for another model in the Song family, the Song Pro. However, if we jump out of BYD's framework and look at the overall auto market, this price has already "driven out" many competing products.
In the promotional video that pays tribute to a number of Chinese brands, BYD put its name at the end, while on the billboards in overseas markets, it used a big NO.1 as its promotional slogan. Undoubtedly, BYD has the ambition to lead the collective rise of Chinese brands. Judging from its market performance, its monthly sales of 300,000 vehicles are indeed unmatched. However, whether it really has the full-scale strength to become the "big brother" should perhaps be left to its competitors.
