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On the evening of January 2, BYD Co., Ltd. released its latest production and sales KuaiBao, showing that BYD sold 1.8685 million vehicles in 2022, an increase of 152.46 percent over the same period last year, of which 1.8574 million new energy passenger vehicles were sold (pure electric: 911100; plug-in hybrid: 946200), an increase of 212.82 percent over the same period last year.

This is the highlight moment of BYD's history! It is understood that BYD has two major car brands, BYD and Tengli, of which the Tengli brand has just been delivered, and the impact of BYD's car sales is almost negligible. The data show that the BYD brand sold 1.8526 million vehicles in 2022, while the Tengli brand delivered a total of 9803 vehicles since October.

For BYD, it is certain that it will become the top of the domestic passenger car market in 2022. As of November 30, BYD sold 1.5809 million vehicles, up 152.6 per cent from a year earlier, while FAW-Volkswagen sold 1.5987 million vehicles, down 1.4 per cent from a year earlier. According to the latest BYD figures, FAW-Volkswagen retail sales in December 2022 will need to exceed 230000 to continue to top passenger car sales, while looking back at FAW-Volkswagen's historical monthly sales data, it is almost impossible to deliver more than 230000 vehicles in December.

In 2022, two major events took place at BYD: stopping production of fuel cars and announcing high-end brand "look up"

On April 3, 2022, a memorable time in China's automobile history, BYD became the first traditional carmaker in the world to stop selling fuel cars. BYD has announced that it will officially stop production of fuel-fueled cars and will focus on pure electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles in the future.

When BYD announced that it would stop production of fuel cars, the market was in an uproar, but more skeptical. As a traditional carmaker, fuel vehicles are the main source of sales, which is why Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi and other manufacturers find it difficult to give up fuel vehicles. For many car companies, cutting off fuel cars is no different from self-abandoning martial arts. However, unlike traditional carmakers such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi, BYD's share of sales of fuel vehicles was declining before it was announced that it would stop producing fuel vehicles.

Data show that BYD sold 740100 vehicles in 2021, including 603900 fuel vehicles and 136300 new energy vehicles. After entering 2022, before announcing the suspension of fuel vehicles, BYD sold 291400 vehicles in the first quarter, including 286300 new energy vehicles and 5049 fuel vehicles. After the suspension of production of fuel vehicles, more focus on the development of new energy vehicles also confirmed BYD's decision, sales repeatedly hit record highs.

On November 8, BYD announced that its high-end brand was named "look up Automobile", and Shenzhen look up Automobile sales Co., Ltd. was established on November 7, which is wholly owned by BYD Automotive Industry Co., Ltd. On December 8th, BYD launched the "look up to cars" brand LOGO. According to officials, the design of the "look up to Automobile" brand logo is inspired by Oracle "Dian", and the zigzag character is the original "Dian", indicating the technology and product route of new energy. BYD said that the lightning lines are capable, implying the extreme performance of the product; the tentacles extend in all directions, representing the brand's fearless exploration of the unknown.

It is understood that BYD will officially launch the high-end brand "look up" on January 5, and the first model look up to R1 (internal code) will also be unveiled. According to the spy photo, look up to R1 to locate the new energy hard off-road vehicle, using a non-load-bearing body design, using a horizontal, vertical and stable design language, which is different from any previous BYD model. Combined with design and pricing, "look up" the first model may be compared with Mercedes-Benz Big G rigid, with a price of more than one million yuan. Of course, BYD does not hope that it can provide much sales system, but hopes to improve BYD's market position through "looking up".

In addition, at the launch ceremony of BYD's 3 million new energy vehicles, officials revealed that a new professional and personalized brand will be launched in the future, priced in the range of 40-600000, and is expected to be launched in 2023. According to rumors, "professional personalized brand" or focus on the layout of high-end new energy pickup market, the new brand will further improve the full-category layout, close to Volkswagen, Toyota and so on.

For BYD, entering the high-end market is a move that has to be taken. On the one hand, BYD has gained a foothold in the middle and low end of the market, launching high-end luxury models, which can effectively improve the company's revenue quality. On the other hand, in the high-end luxury field where domestic car companies have never been successful, BYD will enjoy a good brand premium if it succeeds in breaking the situation.

As Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the National passenger car Market Information Association, said: "the building of high-end brands means stronger development opportunities and brand promotion, and it is also the inevitable trend of the development of new energy vehicles in the future." Of course, it is not easy for BYD to hit the high end. On the one hand, brand awareness has been formed; on the other hand, the accumulation time of Chinese car companies in the high-end market is too short. Chinese consumers' consumer psychology is mostly export-oriented consumption, that is, they are still biased towards overseas brands. These are all difficulties that BYD needs to overcome, but as mentioned earlier, BYD needs to take this step, and Chinese car companies also need to take this step. Even if it's a long way off and remote.

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