BYD will purchase up to eight LNG dual-fuel PCTCs capable of transporting 7,700 vehicles each, which are expected to be delivered from 2025 onwards, according to the latest media reports.

(File photo shows 100 Tang EVs waiting to be shipped to Norway.)

BYD will order multiple pure car/truck carriers (PCTCs) to meet the company's future car export transportation needs, maritime information service platform Xinde Marine News reported today.

BYD will purchase six and up to eight LNG dual-fuel PCTCs capable of transporting 7,700 vehicles each, which are expected to be delivered from 2025 onwards, the report said, citing Lloyd's List.

BYD has already held discussions with at least three shipyards, including CSSC Huangpu Wenchong Shipbuilding and China Merchants Jinling Shipyard, according to the report.

Negotiations for the orders are now in an advanced stage, and relevant service units regarding the local order are already being implemented, the report said.

Benefiting from China's strong auto exports, coupled with the current global shortage of available capacity, the long-haul roll-on/roll-off shipping market for transporting cars is booming, with record high charter rates for car carriers, the report noted.

BYD, China's largest new energy vehicle (NEV) company, sold a record 134,036 NEVs in June, the fourth consecutive month in which it exceeded 100,000 units.

BYD stopped production and sales of internal combustion engine vehicles in March to focus on plug-in hybrids and pure electric vehicles.

The company sold 641,350 NEVs in the first half of the year, allowing it to surpass Tesla's 564,000 units to become the world's top-selling NEV maker.

While it's growing rapidly in China, BYD is ramping up its expansion in overseas markets.

On July 21, BYD announced that the company officially entered the passenger car market in Japan and unveiled three battery electric vehicles (BEVs), the BYD Seal, Dolphin and Atto 3.

BYD said at a launch event at the time that the Atto 3 is expected to be launched in Japan in January 2023, the Dolphin in mid-2023 and the Seal in the second half of 2023.

BYD will work with dealers and partners in Japan to gradually establish a comprehensive sales and service system and open a new chapter in the internationalization of passenger cars, the company said.

On July 27, BYD announced that it will participate in the Paris Motor Show, to be held at the end of October, and make its new energy passenger car product matrix available in Europe.

BYD Tang EV started deliveries in Norway in August last year. At the end of December last year, BYD announced that BYD Tang EV deliveries reached 1,000 units in Norway.

BYD marches into Japan, home turf of Toyota and Honda