7:12 am, July 14, 2024
Interest in electric vehicles made by Euro 2024 official partner BYD has surged, according to figures from Auto Trader.
The online vehicle marketplace said today that it had recorded 189,387 views of its adverts for new and used BYD models since the tournament began on June 14 – up by almost a third versus 142,537 during the previous month.
Chinese manufacturer BYD has bought prominent slots on electronic scrolling pitchside advertising boards at the matches in Germany, which have all been broadcast on free-to-air television in the UK.
That included England’s semi-final victory on Wednesday, for which ITV said a peak of 21.6m people tuned in to watch, making it 2024’s most-viewed programme so far.
And interest in BYD vehicles could rise further as even more people are expected to watch tonight’s final against Spain.
Auto Trader editorial director Erin Baker said: ‘England and Spain may be fighting for the trophy, but it’s clear from our data that China’s BYD is already a big winner off the pitch.
‘Rising traffic on the Auto Trader website across the four weeks of this tournament shows that there’s been a step-change in awareness of BYD little more than a year after they entered the UK market.’
She added: ‘This high-profile media partnership only underlines their ambitions in Europe, where they face tough competition from the well-established legacy brands.
‘BYD’s sales are growing rapidly, albeit from a low base, and the Euros partnership looks like cementing them in the public consciousness.’
Interest in BYD models since the beginning of Euro 2024 has been led by the Seal saloon.
Its Auto Trader adverts have been the fourth-most viewed among EVs in that period, with the Tesla Model 3 in first place followed by the Ioniq 5 and Kia EV9.
Separate SMMT figures show that by the end of last month, there had been 4,062 UK sales of new BYD cars since March 2023, when the manufacturer entered the UK market.
However, the European Commission announced last month that it was proposing to impose tariffs of 17.4% on BYD vehicles bought in the European Union.
It said it was concerned that Chinese car makers were benefiting from ‘unfair’ subsidies that were ‘causing a threat of economic injury to EU BEV (battery-electric vehicle) producers’.
Main image shows the Denmark v England match. Credit: Martin Rickett/PA
