BYD leads car sales in Singapore with over 7,000 registrations so far this year

Collectively, the other Chinese car brands – BYD excluded – put 3,511 cars on the road in the first nine months of 2025, forming 9.3 per cent of total registrations. 

Mr James Ng, managing director of BYD Singapore and the Philippines, said the company is working towards ending 2025 with more than 10,000 registrations in Singapore.

He expects the brand to continue growing in 2026 as electric vehicles (EVs) gain greater acceptance here, supported by government initiatives to encourage adoption. 

Mr Ng Khee Siong, managing director of Borneo Motors Singapore, the distributor of Toyota, told The Straits Times that the registration figures “reflect evolving customer preferences across brands and powertrains, which we take into account as we continue to refine and expand our line-up to meet diverse mobility needs”. 

Powertrains refer to the main parts that move a car, which can be petrol engines or electric motors.

Mr Ng added that Borneo Motors will introduce a wider range of electric vehicles in 2026, as well as expand its range of petrol-hybrid models, aligning with Toyota’s global direction.

In Singapore, BYD has been frequently introducing new models, spurring consumer interest. These include the Sealion 7, an electric SUV launched in January that industry insiders said has recorded strong sales. 

The company has also appeared to be responsive to market needs. In 2023, it was among the first to introduce a tuned-down version of an existing EV model, so that it can be registered with a Category A certificate of entitlement (COE) instead of a Category B one, which comes at a higher premium. 

BYD launched a Category A version of its Sealion 7 in September.

It now offers eight of its nine models as Category A COE EVs.

Other Chinese car brands have since followed suit and are offering less powerful Category A versions of their EVs. 

In October, LTA cited the availability of cheaper EVs, especially from China, as a driver behind the strong demand for COEs.

Unlike the majority of car brands in Singapore, which sell their products through a single dealer, BYD’s authorised distributor, Vantage Automotive, has four dealers. 

This has enabled the carmaker to have 10 BYD-branded showrooms across Singapore, instead of one or two, as with most brands. 

Associate Professor Walter Theseira, a transport economist at the Singapore University of Social Sciences, said BYD has an edge over other Chinese carmakers in Singapore because of its wider range of models and international reputation.

It also offers better value than Japanese or South Korean mass-market brands as BYD cars have more features, including connectivity capabilities that allow the driver to access the car’s functions remotely using a smartphone app, said Prof Theseira.

BYD’s performance in Singapore comes at a time when the brand is facing intensifying competition in its home market. In September, it posted its first year-on-year fall in total sales in China since 2020. 

Citing sources, news agency Reuters reported in September that BYD had cut its 2025 sales target to 4.6 million vehicles, from 5.5 million.

The carmaker is looking to deliver between 800,000 and one million cars outside of China in 2025, or about a fifth of its total volume. 

In 2024, it exported 417,204 EVs, or roughly 10 per cent of its global sales of 4.25 million passenger cars.

When asked to comment on BYD’s sales performance globally, Mr James Ng would say only that the company’s established production bases and sales network in key markets such as Singapore give it “broad global market presence”.

Note: This article was written by Lee Nian Tjoe and first appeared in The Straits Times on 29 October 2025.

Source: The Straits Times