In a conversation with businessline, BYD India’s Sanjay Gopalakrishnan projected a 30 to 40 per cent increase in overall EV sales in 2024. The company said it aimed to capitalise on this momentum by introducing a ‘diverse range of EVs tailored’ to Indian consumers’ preferences.

The BYD SEAL, launched recently, boasts of a 650-kilometre range. It has had more than 200 bookings received within days of its launch.

Gopalakrishnan pointed out that the government’s projections for penetration of EV four-wheelers are 30% by 2030, which he said was an optimistic outlook that the government was looking at. “This means you will have 30% of the six million PV sales annually - that is about 18 lakh EVs in 2030. But that is a very optimistic projection by the government. Yes, they are striving hard. All the OEMs are also in that play, striving hard. Even if 15-20% penetration occurs, still we will have almost 12-15 lakh EV sales annually for the sector.”

BYD sold more than 5.26 lakh units globally in the last quarter of 2023. It said that despite homologation issues in India, it had managed sales of approximately 22,000 units last year, introducing models such as the e6 MPV and the Atto 3 SUV.

Gopalakrishnan also said the company was open to exploring opportunities in the small car segment. Asked about the company’s aspirations in India, he said India is ‘long market’ because “the market situation is different. The economy is different. The consumer profiles are different, car density per thousand is also different compared to even some of the developing countries. So I think it’s a long term. We will definitely wait and we hope to be among the top leading players in India in the near future”.

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Host & Producer: S Ronendra Singh

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About the State of the Economy podcast

India’s economy has been hailed as a bright spot amid the general gloom that seems to have enveloped the rest of the world. But several sectors continue to stutter even as others seem set to fire on all cylinders. To help you make sense of the bundle of contradictions that the country is, businessline brings you podcasts with experts ranging from finance and marketing to technology and start-ups

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