BYD's Five-Star SHARK and a Bigger Seagull Can't Mask a 22% Slide
Published on 10/20/2026 at 12:31 | Editorial boerse-global.de
BYD is keeping its product pipeline running at full tilt, rolling out a larger second-generation Seagull in China today while its SHARK DMO pick-up collected a five-star Euro-NCAP rating. The compact hatchback, which went on pre-order October 9, now offers five seats and is driven by a 95-kilowatt electric motor, with at least one trim level fitted with LiDAR. The safety result, announced yesterday, gives the manufacturer a useful calling card as it pushes further into markets beyond China.
Investors greeted the news with modest enthusiasm. The stock traded at EUR 8.37 pre-market, up 0.8%, and added 1.0% to EUR 8.38 during German hours. Those gains barely dent a bruising year: the shares are down 22% since January.
Local Assembly, Global Ambitions
The company's international build-out took a concrete step last Friday when it named Malaysia's Inokom Corporation, a unit of the Sime Darby group, as its partner for completely knocked-down assembly in the Southeast Asian country. BYD did not disclose which models would be assembled or when production would begin. The arrangement fits a wider strategy of establishing manufacturing capacity outside China and serving export markets directly.
Commercial vehicles are advancing in parallel. On October 9, an electric heavy truck from the Q3 series rolled off the line at the Huai'an plant, marking the 150,000th commercial new-energy vehicle built there. BYD said it would step up investment in long-haul heavy trucks. Sales in the segment climbed 28.46% to 53,032 units in the first nine months of 2026.
Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying BYD?
A Split Picture on Deliveries
September's headline figures look robust at first glance: 463,561 new-energy vehicles sold worldwide, a 16.98% year-on-year increase, including 180,700 exported units. Yet the nine-month tally of 3,131,576 vehicles sits 3.94% below the prior-year level. Retail deliveries of BYD passenger cars in China tell a sharper story, falling 28.9% year on year to 246,816 units in September, though that was 5.5% above August, according to media reports.
Sentiment in Hong Kong and among Chinese dividend payers weakened yesterday after Beijing left key policy rates unchanged and recent growth data came in stronger than expected, dimming hopes for fresh stimulus measures.
Brussels Sets a Ceiling
Trade policy is adding a new layer of complexity. Reuters reported that the European Union and China have agreed to cap imports of Chinese hybrid vehicles at 350,000 units a year. BYD, together with SAIC and Chery, accounts for more than 90% of that volume in the EU. On top of that, Beijing plans to cut the value-added tax rebate on exports of new-energy vehicles from 13% to 9% effective April 1, 2027.
Analysts are recalibrating. On October 8, CGS International trimmed its price target to HKD 103.60 from HKD 114 while keeping a Buy rating.
New Metal on the Stand
The model offensive continues unabated. At the Paris Motor Show on October 12, BYD unveiled the ATTO 8 SUV, equipped with a 115-kWh Blade battery. A board meeting is also scheduled to review third-quarter results. Whether the new metal and the commercial-vehicle momentum can lift the shares out of their annual rut is the question now facing the market.
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