BYD’s Blade Battery Leap and Kei-Car Gambit Can’t Mask a 38% Profit Slide
Published on 07/27/2026 at 09:41 | Redaktion boerse-global.de
The Chinese electric-vehicle giant BYD is sprinting in two directions at once. While its fourth-quarter net income cratered 38% to 9.3 billion yuan and quarterly revenue shrank 14% to 237.7 billion yuan, the company is simultaneously rolling out a next-generation Blade battery that can charge from 10% to 70% in just five minutes and launching a tiny Kei car called the Racco in Japan. The tension between punishing domestic margins and ambitious global expansion has never been sharper.
For the full year 2025, BYD’s profit fell 19% to 32.6 billion yuan even as revenue inched up 3.5% to 804 billion yuan. Bloomberg data shows the gross margin slipped to 17.7%, the lowest in three years. Chairman Wang Chuanfu warned of a “knockout phase” in China’s EV market, where a brutal price war is squeezing every manufacturer. The pressure is not unique to BYD: China’s auto industry saw first-half profits tumble 19.5%, and nationwide car sales have declined for nine consecutive months through June.
The company’s troubles extend beyond pricing. Its “God’s Eye” driver-assistance system has drawn criticism in recent months, adding a reputational headwind to the financial one. Yet BYD’s stock has staged a recovery, climbing 1.81% on Monday to €9.94 in European trading and gaining 14.06% over the past 30 sessions. That still leaves it roughly 30% below the 52-week high of €14.25 reached in late July last year — or 32.86% below the €14.54 peak depending on the data source — underscoring how far the shares have fallen from grace.
A Global Push That’s Gaining Traction
BYD’s international strategy is producing tangible results. The company has set an export target of 1.3 million vehicles for 2026. In Australia, a partnership with salary-sacrifice provider Smart — which manages about 580,000 novated lease customers — has helped BYD sell 52,335 vehicles since the start of the year, more than doubling its volume. In June alone, BYD ranked second in the overall Australian market with 18,881 deliveries, trailing only Toyota. The Sealion 7 became the brand’s best-selling model Down Under, while Tesla managed 8,670 units, up 88.9% year-on-year. Chinese brands collectively accounted for 55,516 of the 140,058 new vehicles registered in Australia during June.
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South Korea is another bright spot. BYD registered 11,675 vehicles in the first half of 2026, overtaking Japanese rivals in the import market during April and June. Local reports indicate 98% of BYD buyers are Korean nationals, suggesting the sales reflect genuine consumer adoption rather than re-exports. The vehicles are priced well below domestic Korean models, a strategy that appears to be working.
Japan’s Kei-Car Challenge
The Racco launch on Tuesday marks BYD’s boldest move yet into Japan’s notoriously insular market. The micro-EV targets the Kei car segment, a category dominated by domestic players like Suzuki and Daihatsu. The timing is delicate: Japan’s central bank meets on July 30-31 and the US Federal Reserve announces its rate decision on July 28-29, events that could roil the Nikkei 225 and the broader Asian equity landscape.
Globally, BYD delivered 403,472 vehicles in June, according to Chinese business outlet 36Kr. That wholesale figure encompasses all markets. Back home, the competitive landscape is intensifying: Leapmotor surged to 93,376 deliveries in June, up 95% year-on-year, while Huawei-affiliated brands hit 50,624, NIO reached 40,597, and XPeng delivered 40,126. Li Auto slipped 14.84% to 30,895 units. China’s new-energy vehicle penetration rate hit 63.6% in June, a sign of how crowded and cutthroat the market has become.
BYD at a turning point? This analysis reveals what investors need to know now.
For investors, the question is whether BYD’s global diversification — from Australian novated leases to Korean showrooms to Japanese micro-cars — can eventually translate into healthier margins. The new Blade battery technology and the Racco’s market entry offer reasons for optimism, but the 38% quarterly profit drop is a stark reminder that the knockout phase Wang Chuanfu described is already underway.
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