(Yicai) Oct. 22 — Chinese new energy vehicle giant BYD has teamed up with Aeon to sell autos at the Japanese retail conglomerate’s about 30 commercial facilities and department stores across Japan by the end of this year.
Aeon will handle orders and contracts while collaborating with BYD’s Japanese dealers to showcase the cars and facilitate sales, Yicai learned yesterday. It is also offering subsidies exceeding JPY100,000 (USD660) on BYD models, with discounts reaching about JPY1 million (USD6,590) when combined with national and local government incentives.
The BYD Dolphin, an electric hatchback that serves as the carmaker’s main model in Japan, is priced at around JPY2.9 million, but the price can drop to about JPY2 million (USD13,185) with the subsidies. In comparison, the model sells for between CNY99,800 and CNY129,800 (USD14,000 and USD18,130) in China, according to BYD’s website.
In addition, Aeon plans to independently import and distribute BYD models in the future. The retail giant operates 164 shopping centers in Japan and has about 2,500 electric vehicle charging stations across 374 stores nationwide.
The new retail alliance model could disrupt the traditional Japanese auto market, where domestic manufacturers and their affiliated dealerships have historically dominated new car sales and after-sales services, potentially creating a new sales paradigm for Chinese EV brands in Japan.
BYD’s sales in Japan surged three times to 802 units last month from a year earlier, accounting for a record about 20 percent of imported pure EV sales in the country, according to the Japan Automobile Importers Association. However, Japanese carmakers still lead the domestic EV market, with Nissan Motor’s Sakura, Leaf, and Ariya posting strong sales.
Japanese models maintained their dominance in overall vehicle sales in the country in the six months ended Sept. 30, with Honda Motor’s N-Box ranking first, followed by Suzuki Motor’s Spacia and Toyota Motor’s Yaris, according to data from the Japan Automobile Dealers Association and the Japan Mini Vehicles Association for the first half of fiscal year 2025.
Editor: Martin Kadiev
