BYD has relieved its competitors

Author | Zhou Zhiyu

In the past year and a half, BYD, which has stirred up the Chinese car market and sparked price wars, suddenly "stopped."

On the evening of July 25th, BYD released the Song L DM-i and the 2025 Song PLUS DM-i, marking the first time BYD's fifth-generation DM technology has been used in an SUV model.

The fifth-generation DM technology is BYD's flagship technology this year. With this technology, the Song L DM-i and the 2025 Song PLUS DM-i have a comprehensive fuel consumption of 3.9 liters per 100 kilometers, a full electric range of over 1500 km, and even in the actual test results shown at the launch event, the range exceeded 2000 km. BYD intends to use its technological strength to redefine SUV fuel consumption history.

However, the pricing of these two new BYD models did not create the same impact as before.

Before the new cars were launched, the market expected the starting price of the two new BYD models to be around 129,800 yuan. The official guide price announced on site was 135,800-175,800 yuan, which is 6,000 yuan more expensive than the previously launched Song PLUS DM-i Honor Edition.

In other words, this time BYD did not offer astonishingly low prices to disrupt the existing pricing system and stir up the market. At the end of May, the Qin L DM-i and the Dolphin 06 DM-i were launched with prices starting from around 120,000 yuan, dropping to as low as 99,800 yuan.

Following this, the already intense price war in the car market escalated further, with various car companies continuing to follow suit, and debates about the price war in the public opinion arena continued unabated.

Now, with BYD's two new models not offering "better-than-expected" prices, many car companies have breathed a sigh of relief. Just this week, including the GAC Aion V second generation, the Changan Deep Blue S07, and other models, all positioned as mid-size SUVs, are targeting the mainstream market.

The Deep Blue S07 is equipped with Huawei's Qiankun intelligent driving ADS SE system, while the Aion V is equipped with the "1 NVIDIA Orin-X chip + 1 LiDAR + 5 mmWave radars + 11 cameras" intelligent driving solution, both excelling in intelligent driving capabilities.

The two new BYD models have upgraded to the fifth-generation DM technology, as well as a four-link suspension, the DiLink intelligent cockpit high-end version - DiLink 100, and the 6nm Qualcomm SM7325 chipset.

This configuration indicates that BYD is still targeting practical consumers, aiming to create an affordable and durable small car. Its main competitors are still joint venture car companies, whose user base values parameters such as range and safety.

Even though they did not adopt aggressive pricing strategies, compared to models in the same price range from joint venture car companies, the two new BYD models are still quite competitive.

With the launch of the Song L DM-i and the 2025 Song PLUS DM-i, BYD also hopes to continue to strengthen its position in the mainstream market, especially in the mainstream SUV market, to accelerate the increase in market share of domestic new energy brands.

For many years, the sales charts of A-class cars in China have been dominated by joint ventures, until domestic brands represented by Geely, Changan, and BYD entered the market, gradually reshaping the market landscape The SUV market is also a similar situation. It wasn't until the emergence of Great Wall Haval that the situation of the A-class SUV market being monopolized by joint venture brands was rewritten. From 2013 to 2021, the Haval H6 has won the top spot in the SUV market for nine consecutive years.

Later, Changan, GAC, Chery, and BYD all launched multiple SUV models, continuously increasing the market share of domestic brand SUVs. The market share of domestic brand SUV models has increased from 28% in 2011 to 55.4% at the end of last year.

He Zhiqi, Executive Vice President and COO of BYD's passenger car division, stated that in the past two to three years, many Chinese automotive brands have begun to make efforts and launch a series of new energy products. Everyone has made great progress in technology, design, quality, and service, and market share has been growing year by year. More and more Chinese brand SUVs are appearing at the top of the SUV sales rankings. Together, everyone has held onto the SUV market.

BYD's Song series, riding the momentum of the rise of domestic brand SUVs, has become the main force for BYD to become the "leader in new energy vehicles." Last year, the Song Plus achieved annual sales of over 427,000 units, and this year its monthly sales often exceed 40,000 units.

CICC believes that the fifth-generation DM new car cycle is beginning, which will complement BYD's hybrid product price range and solidify its market share. According to data from the China Passenger Car Association in June, the terminal sales of the fifth-generation DM technology flagship models Qin L DM-i and Dolphin 06 DM-i were 20,100 units and 14,000 units, respectively.

With the addition of new members to BYD and a less aggressive pricing strategy, BYD will further push towards its annual sales target. The market will also usher in a window of opportunity, and car companies will enjoy a long-awaited breathing period.

However, as the market enters the peak season in August and September, will BYD launch the "Honour Edition" Song to continue stirring up the market? This is worth observing. The elimination game in the automotive market is far from over