VP Stella Li: ‘BYD will leap forward in 2025 in Europe’

“Our sales in Europe will make a big jump starting in March and April,” says Stella Li, Vice-President of the Chinese car manufacturer BYD. The carmaker still wants to expand its offer of PHEVs and BEVs, including a very affordable entry-level model. Meanwhile, Europe is investigating the financial aid the company got to build its factory in Hungary.

Shortly after the BYD Atto 2 officially went on sale, it appears that another small electric car from BYD, already known in China, is heading for Europe under a different name. The Atto 2 is currently the cheapest BYD in Europe, but probably not for long.

According to S&P Global Mobility, BYD’s European sales are expected to double from 83,000 last year to 186,000 in 2025. By 2029, that number could reach just under 400,000, mainly because “the upcoming Seagull’s pricing strategy ensures competitiveness in the EU even with tariffs.”

€20,000 EV

BYD also wants to focus on small electric cars in Europe. There are further indications that the electric car known as the Seagull in China and the Dolphin Mini in Mexico could launch in Europe this year. However, here, it will be called the Dolphin Surf and offered with more advanced safety tech and other features.

In terms of price, it should be between the Dacia Spring and models such as the Fiat Grande Panda or the Citroën ë-C3, which means a price tag of around €20,000. That’s the price European manufacturers intend to ask for their newest creations, like the Renault Twingo or the Volkswagen ID.1, but these won’t be available before 2026 or even 2027.

The larger BYD Dolphin with a 60 kWh battery is sold in China starting at around €16,000, while in Europe, it costs around twice as much. The Seagull is sold in its homeland starting at around €9,000. If you double that price for the Dolphin Surf, the range would be around 18,000 to 20,000 euros.

Stella Li told the British magazine Autocar that the Dolphin Surf may not be the cheapest model on the market, but it will offer the best value for money. BYD management has also focused primarily on the price-performance ratio for the Atto 2.

Best-seller in China

After launching the Seagull in 2023, the small electric hatch quickly became one of China’s best-selling EVs with a low price, modern tech, and BYD’s advanced batteries. In November, it topped Tesla’s Model Y as the top-selling vehicle in China, EV or gas-powered.

The Seagull is available in three trims in China: Active, Free, and Flying, starting at 69,800 yuan (± €9,000). Two BYD battery packs, 30.08 kWh and 38.88 kWh, provide a range of 305 km and 405 km, respectively, according to the somewhat optimistic Chinese CLTC standard.

The interior is relatively simple, with a 10.1″ rotating center infotainment and 5″ driver display screens. But with its DiLink intelligent network connection, the smart cockpit features an Android-based system with navigation support, video and other media capabilities, and more.

BYD’s low-cost EV has earned the nickname ‘Mini Lamborghini’ in China because former Lamborghini designer Wolfgang Egger led its design. The Seagull is a small car, just 3,780 mm long, 1,715 mm wide, and 1,540 mm tall, with a wheelbase of 2,500 mm.

BYD has already launched the Seagull EV in several other overseas markets, calling it the Dolphin Mini. It’s been on sale in Brazil, Mexico, Columbia, Chile, and the Philippines since last year.

EU investigation

Meanwhile, the European Union Commission has reportedly opened a preliminary probe investigating whether China provided unfair subsidies to support Chinese EV automaker BYD in establishing a new production facility in Hungary.

Since 2023, we’ve known that BYD’s expansion plans to foreign regions include local production footprints, including EV production plants in Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia, and Hungary. Following a phased expansion program, this region will become home to a new facility capable of producing 200,000 EVs annually for the EU market.

As reported by The Financial Times, the EU Commission in Brussels has entered the early stages of an investigation into BYD, specifically whether or not the Chinese automaker received unfair subsidies from its local government to build its plant in Hungary.

EU officials have pointed out that BYD used Chinese labor to erect the factory in Hungary and plans to import most of its EV components, including batteries, from overseas. As such, the EU argues this will create little economic growth for Hungary and the European Union.

This investigation follows a previous probe from the EU Commission last year that determined that several Chinese automakers, including BYD, received unfair subsidies from China, resulting in new tariffs on imports for those companies.

If the EU’s investigation confirms BYD received unfair aid from China to build in Hungary, the automaker may be forced to sell off assets, reduce its production capacity, repay the subsidy, and even pay a fine to the EU for non-compliance.

Stella Li told the press yesterday that she had not yet been officially warned about such an investigation but that her company “will cooperate in full transparency if asked”. To be continued.