It is learned from Chinese media, according to Japan’s “Asahi Shimbun” report on September 25, electric vehicles (EVs) manufactured by Chinese companies will be launched in Japan next year. BYD, which ranks second in the world in EV sales, will sell three models there.

BYD sold about 320,000 EVs globally from January to June, making it the world’s second-largest electric vehicle maker after Tesla, the report said.

Sales of new energy vehicles, including plug-in hybrids (PHVs), are about 640,000 units, ranking first in the world.

According to the report, part of BYD’s global strategy is to enter the Japanese market.

However, the Japanese market is rather special, with domestically produced cars accounting for more than 90% of new car sales. In terms of imported cars, European brands such as Germany account for the majority. South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Co. entered the Japanese market in 2001, but exited in 2009.

The Japanese market is so difficult to enter, why is BYD challenging now? Liu Xueliang, president of BYD Japan, pointed out that Japan will also usher in an EV society in the future.

Liu Xueliang pointed out that there are few EV models in Japan, and now is a good time for BYD to enter the Japanese market. Liu Xueliang said that efforts will be made to control the price within the acceptable range of consumers. It can be considered that BYD will adopt the same strategy of reaching the top in China’s EV field by ensuring a long battery driving range and keeping the price as low as possible, with high cost performance as the selling point.

BYD plans to open 100 sales stores nationwide in Japan by 2025.