BYD has finally published its sales figures to the Automotive Business Council (Naamsa).
The Chinese carmaker launched in South Africa in 2023, but for the past three years, it has kept its official sales numbers under wraps.
This is notable given that BYD is a new-energy vehicle (NEV) brand specialising in electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs).
The South African NEV market is still in its infancy, but BYD (Build Your Dreams) has rapidly expanded its presence in the three years it has been here.
It initially launched with a single model, the electric Atto 3 crossover, but this roster has since been expanded with the electric Dolphin and Dolphin Surf hatchbacks, the Seal sedan, and the Sealion 7 SUV.
It has also branched out into PHEVs with the release of the Shark bakkie, and the Sealion 5 and Sealion 6 SUVs.
The general speculation for months has been that BYD has become an industry leader for NEV adoption in South Africa, but this hasn’t been confirmed – until now.
Naamsa recently published the official industry sales report for March 2026, revealing that BYD sold a total of 589 units.
This is how the Chinese automaker compares to other brands in South Africa.
Note that, for the purposes of this list, we have excluded commercial-only brands like FAW.
- Toyota – 13,323 units
- VW – 5,574 units
- Suzuki – 5,047 units
- Isuzu – 3,513 units
- Hyundai – 3,258 units
- Ford – 2,828 units
- GWM – 2,777 units
- Chery – 2,390 units
- Mahindra – 2,280 units
- Jetour – 1,768 units
- Kia – 1,646 units
- BMW – 1,588 units
- Nissan – 1,487 units
- Omoda & Jaecoo – 1,433 units
- Renault – 1,407 units
- Stellantis – 714 units
- MG – 689 units
- Foton – 604 units
- Mercedes-Benz – 595 units
- BYD – 589 units
- Tata – 515 units
- Honda – 348 units
- Jaguar Land Rover – 319 units
- JAC – 314 units
- Mitsubishi – 241 units
- Mazda – 209 units
- BAIC – 177 units
- Changan – 118 units
- Volvo – 101 units
- Porsche – 92 units
- Subaru – 48 units
- Proton – 10 units
- Scuderia – 6 units
BYD’s sales are quite impressive considering it doesn’t sell a traditional petrol or diesel model.
It’s only a few sales behind Mercedes-Benz, and is outperforming established legacy brands like Honda, Mazda, Mitsubishi, and Volvo.
Volvo is arguably the brand’s main rival, as the EX30 is one of the best-selling EVs in the country.
BYD’s most popular models
The biggest contributor to BYD’s success is none other than the Dolphin Surf, its most affordable model.
According to Cars.co.za, the small electric hatchback sold 239 units in March, accounting for 40% of the brand’s total sales.
At R341,900, the Surf is the cheapest EV in the country, so it’s not surprising to see that affordability has been the biggest hurdle to EV adoption up till now.
That said, BYD’s PHEVs are also quite popular, as the second-best-seller was the Sealion 6 with 130 units, followed by the Shark with 94 units, and the Sealion 5 with 72.
The Atto 3 sold 28 examples, and the Seal, Sealion 7, and Dolphin sold 28, 9, and 8 units, respectively.
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