- Strong demand is prompting BYD to reassess ways to deploy more vehicles in India, where dealers currently have hundreds of bookings, according to Bloomberg.
- BYD is considering assembling semi-knocked-down components in Indida.
BYD (HKG: 1211, OTCMKTS: BYDDY) is considering expansion plans in India, including local vehicle assembly, to meet surging demand, Bloomberg reported Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Constrained by import quotas, the Chinese new energy vehicle (NEV) maker is evaluating some form of local assembly in India while working to secure safety and regulatory certifications for more models, the people said.
India previously rejected BYD's plan to build a full vehicle assembly plant in the country, but the company is now considering assembling semi-knocked-down kits — a lower-cost approach that may gain regulatory approval more easily, the sources added.
Any production plans would follow visits by BYD executives to India, they added.
Strong demand has prompted BYD to reassess ways to bring more vehicles to the Indian market, where dealers currently have hundreds of bookings, according to Bloomberg.
BYD's Indian sales surged about 88% in 2025 to roughly 5,500 units, making it difficult to operate under the 2,500-unit per model import quota, the report noted.
Despite import duties as high as 110%, BYD achieved growth primarily due to its relatively lower prices compared to Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA), the report noted, adding that adopting a semi-knocked-down (SKD) assembly approach would reduce tariffs from 70% to 30%.
BYD has launched four models in India: the all-electric MPV (multi-purpose vehicle) eMax 7, the electric sedan Seal, the SUV Atto 3, and the Sealion 7. The Atto 3 is known as the Yuan Plus in China, while the Sealion 7 corresponds to the Sealion 07 in China.
In July 2023, reports indicated BYD sought approval from Indian authorities to build a NEV factory locally but was denied.
In late August last year, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited China — his first trip since the 2020 border standoff — seen as a thaw in Sino-Indian relations.
On September 1, 2025, the semi-official Weibo account @小迪快报 announced that BYD had reached the milestone of delivering its 10,000th vehicle in India.
On September 10 last year, Bloomberg reported that BYD had begun processing visas for senior executives and engineers to visit India, following five years of remotely managing operations.
The company planned to launch the Atto 2 compact electric SUV in India in early 2026, according to the Bloomberg report at the time. The Atto 2 is known as the Yuan Up in China.
