BYD doubled-down on its expansion into luxury sport utility vehicles and off-roaders with two new models to take on the likes of Jaguar Land Rover Automotive.
China’s biggest automaker unveiled the Super 3 and Bao 8 SUVS at its Shenzhen headquarters on Tuesday (Apr 16) night in a glitzy livestreamed event. The carmaker didn’t specify if the new SUVs are hybrid or pure electric cars.
Apart from the two new models, the automaker also displayed Super 9, a conceptual high-performance racing car.
The launch is the first in a slew of unveilings in the lead up to the Beijing Auto Show, which runs from Apr 25 to May four and this year takes its place as China’s premier car show.
While BYD is best known for its range of budget EVs, such as the popular Seagull hatchback – which sells for 69,800 yuan, or less than US$10,000 – it is also pushing into the high-end luxury segment of the market.
Earlier this year it debuted its most expensive car, the 1.68 million yuan (S$316,635) Yangwang U9 high-performance electric supercar to rival Ferrari and Lamborghini.
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BYD already offers one car under the Fang Cheng Bao brand – the Bao 5, also known as the Leopard five – a plug-in hybrid SUV that starts at 289,800 yuan. BLOOMBERG