BYD has rolled out cheaper versions of its popular Dynasty and Watch The Butcher, the Chef, and the Swordsman OnlineOcean electric vehicle series in the last two days, making de facto retail price reductions of between 7% and 14%, a move that could put more pressure on rivals to follow suit. China’s biggest EV maker said Thrusday it will sell the Honor Edition of the plug-in hybrid version of the Seal sports sedan with a starting price of RMB 149,800 ($20,822), compared with the RMB 166,800 price tag of the so-called Champion Edition launched last May. In a related move, the base price of its best-selling Song Plus has been lowered to RMB 129,800 from RMB 149,800 with the launch of a PHEV trim that can go 71 kilometers (44 miles) on battery power alone. Meanwhile, the other new variants of the five-seater SUV are now priced RMB 20,000 lower than their 2023 counterparts. The price cuts come just one day after the automaker began offering cheaper versions of its higer-priced Han sedans and Tang sports utility vehicles, which now start at RMB 169,800 and RMB 179,800, reductions of 10.5% and 14.3% respectively from their previous prices. BYD’s action on Feb. 19 kicked off a price war in the Chinese car market when the company launched a version of its budget Qin compact sedan with a base price that was RMB 20,000 less than the regular model. [TechNode reporting]
