BYD's Move into South Korean Market with Electric Vehicles

TapTechNews June 7th news, according to today's report of The Seoul Economic Daily, BYD is undergoing assessment tests authorized by the Korean environment and industry departments, including various aspects such as driving noise, charging range, energy consumption efficiency for certification review.

The above is the pre-certification procedure for car companies to sell electric cars in South Korea. BYD is seeking to sell electric cars locally. The report said that the models that BYD may launch locally include the small hatchback 'Dolphin' and the medium-sized sedan 'Seal'.

BYD is reported to have completed most of the preparatory work for the car's listing locally and is expected to release these two models within this year. Currently, BYD's work of selecting dealers in the 'Capital Region' of South Korea (TapTechNews note: composed of Seoul Special City, Incheon Metropolitan City, Gyeonggi-do, and Cheonan City, Asan City in Chungcheongnam-do and Chuncheon City in Gangwon-do, concentrating more than 50% of the total population in South Korea) has entered the final stage, and the company has also hired Jo In-chul (transliteration), the former general manager of BMW MINI in South Korea, to serve as BYD's local vice president.

There is an opinion in the South Korean business community that the price competitiveness of BYD cars may'shake' the local market.

BYD has previously entered the South Korean commercial vehicle market and has successively launched the pure electric truck T4K and the 9-meter pure electric bus eBus9 locally.

For reference, BYD officially entered the Japanese passenger car market last January and launched a number of pure electric cars, including Seal, Dolphin, and ATTO3 (named Yuan PLUS in China). In order to open the Japanese market, BYD has also taken a series of measures, including independently establishing a dealer network and reaching agency agreements with well-known local dealers and auto parts distributors.