TOKYO -- China's BYD overtook Honda Motor and Nissan Motor to become the world's seventh-largest automaker by number of cars sold in the April-June quarter, buoyed by demand for its affordable electric vehicles, data from automakers and research company MarkLines shows.
New vehicle sales by BYD grew 40% on the year to 980,000 units for the quarter, even as the majority of leading automakers, including Toyota Motor and Volkswagen Group, suffered a decline. Much of BYD's uptick stemmed from overseas sales, which roughly tripled on the year to 105,000 units.