Shockingly cheap: BYD Seagull has become even more affordable amid a price war in China

The Seagull electric hatchback (its name means “seagull” in English) debuted last year as BYD’s cheapest model and became an instant hit, but since the beginning of this year its sales have declined amid a price war in China and seasonal fluctuations in demand — in February there were New Year holidays in China, which reduced consumer activity. Today, BYD announced a price reduction for Seagull: the basic version of the hatchback now costs in China from 69,800 yuan or 881,000 rubles in translation at the current exchange rate.

In the Chinese car market, the price war has been going on for more than a year and is becoming more fierce. Its reason was the global slowdown in demand for electric cars; manufacturers of electric cars are trying to maintain their market share through dumping; manufacturers of expensive and low-volume models are suffering the most from this — for example, the HiPhi brand, which recently announced a forced stop in production for six months. BYD, with its gigantic production and sales volumes, is still afloat and has no intention of handing over the market to competitors, despite the fact that since 2022 it has been producing exclusively “plug-in” models, that is, electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids.

BYD finished 2023 as the absolute leader of the Chinese market and took second place in the world after Tesla in the list of the largest electric vehicle manufacturers, but this year BYD's sales went down sharply: in February, the company sold 122,311 cars in the world, which is 36.48 % less than in February 2023, and 39.43% less than in January of this year. Last year, the BYD Seagull hatchback was among the top five most popular electric vehicles in the world with 280,217 units sold, but in February only 13,492 units were sold, while in the model’s peak December there were 50,525 units.

In general, BYD management decided to increase the degree of the price war and reduced prices for Seagull. In addition, in February, this hatchback entered the South American market under the name Dolphin Mini, which should also have a beneficial effect on the statistics.

1/5 2/5 3/5 4/5 5/5

In its native China, at the start of sales in April last year, Seagull cost from 73,800 yuan (932,000 rubles translated at the current exchange rate), and now — from 69,800 (881,000 rubles). For this money, the consumer receives a hatchback with a single electric motor on the front axle (75 hp, 135 Nm) and a battery with a capacity of 30.08 kWh, a full charge of which is enough for 305 km on the CLTC cycle. The maximum battery charging power is 30 kW. The basic package includes all-round disc brakes, front and window airbags, stability control, air conditioning, cruise control, a 7-inch instrument screen, a 10.1-inch multimedia screen, a four-speaker audio system, parking sonar and a rear camera. type.

The top version for 85,800 yuan (1.083 million rubles) has a battery for 38.88 kWh and can travel 405 km on a single charge on the CLTC cycle, and the equipment includes an electric driver's seat adjustment, modern electronic driver assistants are available for an additional fee (adaptive cruise control, automatic emergency braking system, traffic sign recognition system, lane control, adaptive headlights). Overall length of BYD Seagull is 3780 mm, width is 1715 mm, height is 1540 mm, wheelbase is 2500 mm. Trunk volume with the rear seat back folded is 930 liters.

Recall that in Russia the brand BYD is not officially represented, but its models are available from gray dealers, including Seagull: prices for copies without mileage range from 1.9 million to 2.9 million rubles.