China’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer BYD announced that the company will end producing full combustion engine cars as of the last month in March.
The company unveiled its plan to focus on producing full electric and heavily electrified plug-in hybrid cars to boost green energy consumption and reduce carbon emissions following the national guideline. From this announcement, BYD will become the first car manufacturer that stops producing fossil-fueled vehicles.
Meanwhile, the company stated that it will continue to provide comprehensive services to current customers owning fossil-fueled vehicles throughout the life cycle by maintaining the supply chain of spare parts. With China’s goal of achieving carbon neutrality, BYD said that it will follow the national incentive and promote electric vehicles in response to facilitating green development in the car industry.
In March 2022, BYD sold a total of over 104,000 units of new energy vehicles, increasing from 24,000 units in the same month of last year, which symbolizes the highest monthly sales ever. "In the future, BYD will focus on pure electric and plug-in hybrids in the automobile sector," the company said in a statement filed to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Sunday.
The company is also among six global car manufacturers, including Volvo, Ford, General Motors, Mercedes-Benz, and Jaguar Land Rover, that have signed up to a global campaign to phase out combustion engine vehicles by 2040.
In line with strategic development requirements, BYD announced that it will concentrate on the business with new energy vehicles. But it will not stop producing petrol engines used for the plug-in hybrids and other combustion engine components for the aftersales business to fulfill its warranty and service promises to the existing customers.