Most of the 500 EVs to be delivered to Blue Bird this year will be filled by BYD, particularly the E6 and T3 models, an executive with the Indonesian company said.

(A 2018 file photo shows the BYD E6 as taxis in China. Image credit: BYD)

BYD (OTCMKTS: BYDDY) will be the main supplier of Indonesia's largest taxi operator's electric vehicle (EV)fleet, as the Chinese new energy vehicle (NEV) giant continues to expand in overseas markets.

PT Blue Bird will buy 80 percent of its EVs from BYD while reviewing its Tesla orders as lower-cost models win out in the country, Bloomberg said in a report today.

Most of the 500 EVs to be delivered to Blue Bird this year will be filled by BYD, especially the E6 and T3 models, because they are better suited to the Indonesian market, its President Director Sigit Priawan Djokosoetono said in an interview.

"If the price is too expensive, it would be unreasonable for us to then charge it to customers, so we need to consider this," he said, adding, "We use a lot of imported BYD models as the price is supportive for us to operate in Indonesia."

It is worth noting that this is not the first time BYD has supplied EVs to Blue Bird.

On April 22, 2019, Indonesia released an electric taxi trial program in which Blue Bird first introduced the BYD E6 as its all-electric taxi, according to a previous BYD press release.

BYD sold 210,295 NEVs in April, up 98.31 percent from 106,042 units in the same month last year and up 1.55 percent from 207,080 units in March, according to data released earlier this month.

The company stopped production and sales of vehicles powered entirely by internal combustion engines in March last year and switched to focus on producing plug-in hybrids and pure electric vehicles.

In April, BYD sold 14,827 NEVs in overseas markets, up 11.38 percent from 13,312 units in March.

From January to April, BYD sold 53,550 units in overseas markets, according to data monitored by CnEVPost. The company first announced its overseas sales figures for NEVs in July 2022.

On May 25, BYD signed a memorandum of understanding with Indonesia at its Shenzhen headquarters aimed at exploring the potential for investment in Indonesia, particularly in the EV sector, according to a statement from the Southeast Asian country.

"The signing of this MoU reflects the importance of future steps in realizing the ambition for electric vehicles in Indonesia. We want to develop the electric vehicle ecosystem in Indonesia to become the largest automotive market in Southeast Asia, and we appreciate BYD's initiative to further explore these opportunities," said Luhut B. Pandjaitan, Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment.

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