BEIJING, September 21 (TMTPost)— BYD Co. Ltd, China’s No.1 electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer, officially forayed into the luxury car market.

Credit：BYD

BYD’s new off-road SUV model Yangwang U8 went on sale in late September 20, Beijing Time. The selling price of RMB1.098 million is in line with the price released in presales. BYD was said to start delivery of Yangwang U8 in the half of October, and all the new model will be sold through retail stores. The automaker is building more than stores for the model and is expected to set up a total of more than 90 stores across over 40 cities in China. Official launch of Yangwang U8 marks BYD’s lineup extended to the premium range tagged more than RMB1 million, which is expected to be a catalyst of reshaping the luxury car market.  

BYD debuted Yangwang U8 in January along with all-electric supercar U9. Both of models are under the premium brand Yangwang and supported by the e4 Platform the first mass-produced four-motor independent drive technology platform in China. “The Yangwang brand will be the first to apply the cutting-edge technologies of BYD Group and offer excel safety, performance and experience to customers even in extreme driving conditions”, said the chairman and president Wang Chuanfu that month.

As the first production model of the Yangwang brand, the U8 is positioned as a hardcore new energy off-road SUV with an around RMB 1 million price tag. Designed to handle extreme off-road adventures, the vehicle is over 5 meters long and 2 meters wide and adopts the design language of “Time Gate”, a hallmark of the Yangwang brand. Its design combines futuristic elements with hardcore styling.

Empowered by the e4 Platform, the Yangwang U8 combines the outstanding performance, safety, and reliability of a hardcore off-road SUV with intelligence elements.The e4 Platform is a power system with a four-motor independent drive as the core. It provides greater safety for users, as it can control the vehicle’s movement through real-time wheel toque regulation. For example, after a single-tire blowout, the technology can precisely adjust the torque of the remaining three wheels with millisecond precision, helping the vehicle to stop in a more stable manner. This function is expected to minimize the risk of secondary accidents.

The e4 platform also offers ultimate performance and driving experience. It has delivered a maximum speed of 20,500 rpm and an output of horsepower exceeding 1,100, enabling the vehicles to run in various conditions including on streets, off-road, and on racetracks. The platform enables a vehicle to perform a 360-degree tank turn on highly-adhesive pavements such as tarmac, with the use of the highly integrated electric motor developed in house. Thanks to the independent positive and negative torque output capabilities, even if the steering and brakes are not working, the Platform allows the vehicle to brake from 100 km/h in less than 40 meters and to steer in less than 12 meters, making the full-size SUV as flexible as A0-class cars.

Yangwang U8 aroused Chinese customers’ great interests once BYD began the presale. The company received orders of 13,000 vehicles within two days after the presale initiated at 2023 Shanghai Auto Show on April 18. At the press about interim financial report in August, BYD management said orders of U8 were more than their expectation.

Yangwang brand is set to boost BYD’s margin, easing the EV giant’s pressure amid the heated price war. BYD’s net income surged 204.68% year-over-year (YoY) to RMB10.95 billion (US$1.4 billion) from January to June, and revenue rose 72.72% YoY to RMB 26 billion in the same period, according to a half-year report released in August.

The report suggested BYD generated RMB14 billion with a YoY increase of 67% in the quarter ended June 30, the slowest quarterly growth in more than a year, while gross profit margin that quarter increased 4.33 percentage points to 18.72%, for the first time overtaking its rival Tesla. Tesla’s gross margin fell 6.8 points YoY to 18.2% in the second quarter. That was the lowest margin in four years, highlighting the profit was severely dented by major price cuts. But CEO Elon Musk signaled his company still could further cut prices at an earnings call in July.

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