BYD (HKG: 1211) sold 314,100 passenger vehicles in April, down 15.7% year-on-year but up 6.2% from March's 295,639 units, as the Shenzhen-based automaker posted a sequential recovery while domestic market weakness deepened. Including commercial vehicles and buses, the group's April total reached 321,123 units.BYD April 2026 sales breakdown (BYD)The result marks BYD's eighth consecutive month of year-on-year decline, a run dating to September 2025. The downturn reflects the unwinding of government NEV purchase incentives that pulled consumer demand forward into the fourth quarter of 2025, combined with a traditional first-half seasonal slowdown in China's passenger car market.For the first four months of 2026, BYD's cumulative passenger car sales stood at 1,003,039 units, down 26.4% year-on-year, while total group sales across all categories reached 1,021,586 units. BYD's cumulative lifetime new energy vehicle sales have now surpassed 16.1 million units. Overseas deliveries were April's standout result. Passenger car and pickup exports reached a record 134,542 units, surging 70.9% year-on-year and representing 42.8% of BYD's total monthly volume — the highest overseas proportion the brand has recorded, and a figure that illustrates how dependent BYD has become on international demand to offset domestic softness.From January to April, cumulative overseas sales totalled 455,707 units, up 59.8% year-on-year, representing roughly 30% of BYD's full-year overseas target of 1.5 million vehicles with eight months still remaining.The export surge has been partly attributed to rising global fuel prices following the Iran conflict, which spurred demand for electric vehicles across international markets, according to Bloomberg — a trend already evident in BYD's March overseas figure of 120,083 units, up 65.1% year-on-year. BYD UK reported record first-quarter 2026 sales as one illustration of the widening momentum. Within BYD's brand portfolio, the Dynasty and Ocean networks together sold 273,448 units, down 21.2% year-on-year. Off-road sub-brand Fang Cheng Bao was the month's standout performer, delivering 29,138 units — up 190.25% year-on-year and 12.39% from March — after launching a new sedan lineup at the 2026 Beijing Auto Show.Premium brand Denza sold 11,250 vehicles, up 57.72% sequentially from a soft March but still down 26.89% year-on-year, its fourth consecutive annual decline. Ultra-luxury brand Yangwang delivered 264 units, up 95.56% year-on-year; at the Beijing show, BYD sold the Yangwang U9 Xtreme supercar for more than 20 million CNY (c. $2.9 million), a new price record for the group.The April figures arrive after a sharp contraction in first-quarter profitability. BYD's Q1 2026 net profit fell 55.38% year-on-year to 4.09 billion CNY (c. $599 million), squeezed by China's ongoing price war, the phase-out of NEV purchase subsidies, and higher supply chain hardware costs. In response, BYD subsequently raised the optional upgrade price for its smart driving system by more than 20% and launched over ten new models equipped with its second-generation Blade Battery and ultra-fast charging technology.Whether BYD's record export run can fully compensate for the structural erosion of its domestic business — and whether margins recover as international volumes scale — is the defining question heading into the second half of 2026.Conversion rate: 1 USD = 6.83 CNY as of May 1, 2026