Japan Mobility Show 2025: BYD
- As the only Chinese company represented at the Japan Mobility Show 2025, BYD, which is said to have global ambitions, is attracting particular attention. And indeed, BYD seems to be attempting a surprise coup by presenting a fully electric kei car as a prototype.
- This is remarkable in several respects. Firstly, because kei cars are still predominantly equipped with combustion engines or mild hybrid engines. However, a few traditional carmakers have also announced kei car concepts with BEV engines for the JMS. Secondly, it would be BYD's first model designed exclusively for a specific market and not offered in China (at least not in the near future). Thirdly, there are hardly any notable examples of non-Japanese carmakers attempting to design a kei car and compete with the top dogs in Japan. BYD's effort and courage must be recognized. It seems as if they want to tackle the unique Japanese market with this special strategy and challenge the Japanese carmakers.
- BYD's kei car is expected to be equipped with a 20 kWh battery, which would allow a range of up to 180 km. Initial estimates put the price at the equivalent of €15,300, which would be below the Nissan Sakura (Japan's best-selling all-electric kei car) at €15,750. Since BYD does not have any factories in Japan, this kei car, should it go into series production, would most likely be manufactured in China.
- BYD has been present in Japan since 2023 with the Atto 3 and Dolphin. And last year, BYD outsold Toyota with 2,223 electric vehicles sold compared to Toyota's 2,038 EVs. However, the EV market in Japan is still at a very low level and Toyota's full hybrids are still very dominant.