BYD Celebrates First Production Cars of Seal DM-i Rolling Off the Assembly Line

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BYD’s Seal DM-i, a plug-in hybrid model, is set to be released in the third quarter. The Zhengzhou base, where the production takes place, is expected to have a monthly capacity of up to 30,000 units.

BYD Celebrates First Production Cars of Seal DM-i Rolling Off the Assembly Line - Trade News - 1

The first production vehicles of the Seal DM-i were recently manufactured at BYD’s Zhengzhou plant in Henan province, China. These vehicles are scheduled to go on sale in the third quarter. BYD’s Zhengzhou base has the capability to produce hundreds of thousands of new energy vehicles (NEVs) annually, and the Seal DM-i specifically can be produced at a rate of up to 30,000 units per month. This information was shared by Ning Libang, the director of the product center of BYD’s Ocean network sales division, during a launch event.

The BYD Seal, initially launched in China on July 29, 2022, is an electric vehicle that competes with the Tesla Model 3 in the Chinese market. Deliveries of the Seal began in August last year, and a revamped version was made available on May 10. The Seal DM-i, previously known as the Chaser 07, was unveiled on April 18 at the Shanghai auto show. BYD announced that the starting price for the model would range from RMB 200,000 yuan ($27,700) to 250,000 yuan, with an anticipated release date in the third quarter. On July 14, BYD branded the Chaser 07 as the Seal DM-i, likely aiming to leverage the popularity of the Seal lineup.

In September 2021, BYD signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the Henan provincial government to establish anV production base in the central Chinese province. The first phase of BYD’s Zhengzhou base commenced production on April 6 this year, with the Song Pro-i being the first vehicle to roll off the line. The initial phase of the plant has an annual capacity of 400,000 units, and subsequent phases are planned to increase the total capacity to over 1 million units upon completion.

The Seal DM-i is a B+ sedan with dimensions of 4,980 mm in length, 1,890 mm in width, and 1,495 mm in height. It has a wheelbase of 2,900 mm. In comparison, the BYD Seal BEV measures 4, mm in length, 1, mm in width, 1,460 mm in height, and has a wheelbase of 2, mm. The Seal DM-i is available in two range variants, offering NEDC pure electric ranges of 121 km and 200 km respectively.

Recently, BYD revealed the interior details of the Seal DM-i. In terms of sales, BYD sold 253,046 NEVs June, marking an 88.79 percent increase compared to the same month last year and a 5.34 percent increase from May. The BYD Seal sold 8,134 units in June, representing a 0.68 percent growth from May. the first half of the year, the model achieved sales of 42,797 units.

(Note: The conversion rate used is $1 = RMB 7.2192)