The official launch of the Ocean-M hatchback will take place in the third quarter, with a price range of RMB 150,000 to RMB 200,000 yuan.

(Image credit: BYD)

BYD (HKG: 1211, OTCMKTS: BYDDY) has unveiled the Ocean-M hatchback at the ongoing 2024 Beijing auto show, with an official launch set for the third quarter.

The Ocean-M is the industry's first rear-wheel-drive performance hatchback, BYD said today.

The car's front end boasts the design styling of BYD's Ocean series models, while the rear end is somewhat similar to the Volkswagen Golf R.

The Ocean-M will be built on BYD's new all-electric platform and will be powered by a new generation of C2B (cell to body) batteries, BYD said at today's launch.

In terms of intelligence, the Ocean-M will bring a comprehensive leap forward in experience, the company said.

The Ocean-M production car will be officially launched in the third quarter of this year, with a price range of RMB 150,000 ($20,700) to RMB 200,000, BYD said.

BYD briefly introduced the Ocean-M near the end of the launch of the Qin L DM-i and Seal 06 DM-i, without mentioning further details.

BYD previewed the model two days ago by mentioning that the Ocean-M would be a concept car for its Ocean lineup, but did not mention "concept car" at today's launch.

The new battery electric vehicle (BEV) platform mentioned by the company could be the next-generation platform e-Platform 4.0.

BYD launched e-Platform 1.0 in 2010 and e-Platform 3.0 in 2021 along with the fourth generation of DM technology.

BYD's current BEV platform is e-Platform 3.0, released in September 2021, with key features of integration, lightweighting and efficiency.

On March 11, local media outlet 36kr reported that BYD will spend three years fighting a "liberation battle" to accelerate its market share from traditional gasoline vehicles.

As part of the program, BYD will update its DM hybrid system, as well as its all-electric platform e-Platform, according to the report.

BYD's BEV platform, the e-Platform, could be updated from 3.0 to 4.0 this year, according to the report.

BYD to launch next-gen PHEV and BEV platforms to make further offensive against petrol cars, report says

($1 = RMB 7.2472)