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In 2023, BYD has attracted the most attention in addition to becoming the "automaker of the year 2022" in the industry, another thing is the release of the first million-level new energy car "look up to U8", but in addition to the above two major events, BYD will soon launch a new seagull car aimed at the small electric car market. On January 18, a set of real car pictures of BYD seagulls were posted online after the declaration map of the car appeared on the declaration list of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. The new car is based on the BYD e 3.0 platform and blade battery and locates the mini electric vehicle. According to the plan, the new car will go on sale in the first half of this year.

Seagull is the third model in BYD's ocean series after dolphins and seals. it was previously reported that the new car is positioned lower than dolphins, so it will be an entry-level model for ocean products, with a price of less than 100000 yuan. it has become the lowest price model for BYD at present.

In terms of appearance, the new car continues to adopt the design concept of "marine aesthetics", and the overall shape is angular and angular. The front face is designed with a closed grille, and the polygonal headlights on both sides are run through by a slender strip, with the BYD brand LOGO logo in the middle, which is highly recognizable. The lower surround uses a large-size intake grille with smoked treatment, which makes the front face richer in visual effect, and the seagull front face is younger and more fashionable than dolphins and seals.

The new car has sharp lines on the side of the body. The combination of two front low and rear high diving waistlines on the side with a black decorative kit above the side skirt makes the whole car very athletic, the door handle is designed in a semi-hidden style, the lower part is equipped with five-spoke wheels, and the charging interface is located on the right front leaf board. the whole side looks like a sense of strength. According to the previous declaration information, the new car will also provide different styles of headlamps and internal rearview mirrors.

In terms of size, as an entry-level model of BYD Ocean series, the new car is 3780/1715/1540mm in length, width and height, 2500mm in wheelbase, and positioning miniature pure electric vehicle. For comparison, the dolphin's length, width and height are 4125/1770/1570mm, the wheelbase is 2700mm, and the new car is one size smaller than the dolphin as a whole.

The design of the rear part of the car is relatively simple, the taillight is a popular penetrating design, and the rear part basically echoes with the front face. The declaration information shows that the taillights of the new car not only bear the word "seagull" logo, but also declare "dolphin MINI" and "dolphin Q" together. There is a view in the industry that the above two different versions of the car will be available in the future. Of course, in terms of the declaration situation, this also means that the new car in the future may not only be named by the name "seagull".

In the interior part, there has been no official news yet. According to the exposed interior spy photos, the new car is expected to adopt the same design style as dolphins, with a full LCD dashboard, a large floating central touch screen and a three-spoke multi-function steering wheel. In addition, the interior of the new car is embellished with a large number of chromium-plated elements to enhance visual perception. In terms of power, the new car will be equipped with a permanent magnet synchronous motor, the maximum power is 55kW, the battery is equipped with lithium iron phosphate battery, and the maximum pure electric mileage is 420km.

Data show that in 2022, BYD's narrow passenger car sales increased by 149.4% to 1.805 million vehicles compared with the same period last year, leading a group of brands to become the top seller in China's passenger car market. This achievement is very subversive for both BYD brands and Chinese brands. On the one hand, BYD itself has achieved rapid growth. On the other hand, BYD's first overtaking of FAW-Volkswagen also means that the era of joint venture car companies to become the top seller is completely over. As for the 2023 sales target, BYD Chairman Wang Chuanfu previously proposed an annual sales target of 4 million vehicles in 2023, more than tripling compared with 2022. BYD also responded that it was affected by the epidemic and that there were many uncertainties in the market, consumer demand and supply chain system, so it was difficult to judge the 2023 sales target.

Of course, BYD's courage to challenge high goals may come from the wide coverage of its products. At present, BYD product matrix is mainly responsible for by dynasty net, ocean net and Tengli brand, in which dynasty and ocean two series products price range is maintained between 10-300000 yuan, this year will also launch a new high-end brand-look up and professional personalized brand matrix, covering areas from household to luxury, from public to personalized, to meet the needs of users in all directions.

And the reason why BYD will launch the miniature pure electric car "Seagull" is not difficult to understand. The data show that the cumulative sales of small electric car dolphins in 2022 increased by 633.4% to 204200 units compared with the same period last year, ranking 11th in the car sales list. can be called BYD's new popular model. As a reference, the dolphin price range is 11.68-136800 yuan, that is to say, BYD's current models below the 100000 level are still blank, which means that BYD still has room for development in this segment. For BYD, "playing down" is far less difficult than "hitting up", at least BYD is still blank in this market.

As far as the current miniature pure electric vehicles are concerned, the auto market in 2022 is still the dominant situation of Wuling Hongguang MINI. According to the retail sales data of the Federation of passengers, Wuling Hongguang MINI sold a total of 404800 vehicles in 2022, but increased by only 2.4% compared with the same period last year, which may be related to the emergence of more similar models such as Chery QQ ice cream, Chery small ant and Changan Lumin. In an environment where many car companies are laying out miniature pure electric vehicles, BYD, as the leader of new energy vehicles, naturally hopes to get a piece of the pie in this market segment. Of course, SAIC GM Wuling, as a car company that laid out this market earlier, is also accelerating the launch of new products. At present, Wuling colorful fruit, a small pure tram, has also appeared in the latest new car declaration catalogue of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. Overall, regardless of body size or product positioning, the positioning of Wuling fruit and seagull are very similar, and it is expected that the two models will form a direct competition after they appear on the market. As for whether seagulls can get their own piece of cake in this market segment, the auto industry believes that the key lies in price, and if seagulls have an advantage in price, seagulls at the lower end may also be able to gain some attention in this market.

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