Inicio BYD China’s BYD launches world’s largest carrier to transport 9,200 cars

China’s BYD launches world’s largest carrier to transport 9,200 cars

China's BYD launches world's largest carrier to transport 9,200 cars

The BYD Shenzhen is the company’s fourth vehicle carrier launch over the past year, with previous models having a capacity of 7,000 cars.

China’s BYD launches world’s largest car carrier with 9,200 vehicle capacity

Represenational image of cars parked in a dockyard, waiting to be transported on the carrier vessel.

Suphanat Khumsap/iStock

Chinese automotive company BYD Auto has unveiled that world’s largest vehicle carrier which can ferry up to 9,200 cars over water. The vessel, dubbed ‘BYD Shenzhen’, has been named after the town in which the company is headquartered. It recently officially undocked from Yangzhou port, located northwest of Shanghai.

The ‘BYD Shenzhen’ measures 219 meters long and 37.7 meters wide, with a maximum speed of 18.5 knots (21.3 mi/h) and a draft of 9 meters. The vessel underscores the EV giant’s aggressive overseas expansion as it builds on last year’s sales surge to target greater global market share in 2025.

Fourth ro-ro ship in one year

The newest ship is designed with environmental sustainability at its core. It features LNG dual-fuel technology, enabling it to run on both LNG and traditional marine fuel. Additionally, the ship is equipped with energy-saving devices and BYD box stationary storage batteries, which likely power the vessel during docking or in low-emission zones, further cutting fuel consumption and emissions.

The BYD Shenzhen, BYD’s fourth ro-ro (roll-on/roll-off) ship, and is ready to set sail, according to a report from China News Service. Since 2024, BYD has launched four ro-ro ships as part of its global expansion into overseas markets. The first vessel, the BYD Explorer No 1, debuted in January 2024 and has already completed multiple trips to Europe, including Spain and Germany, as well as docking in Brazil, Electrek reported.

BYD‘s second vessel, the BYD Changzhou, entered operation in early December 2024, followed by the BYD Hefei, which set sail last week. Both ships, along with the BYD Explorer No 1, can transport up to 7,000 vehicles. The BYD Hefei embarked last week carrying 5,000 NEVs, with BYD stating that the ship will accelerate the global expansion of China’s new energy vehicles.

BYD boosts global presence

Furthermore, BYD has already expanded to 100 countries and regions worldwide, positioning itself for even more growth in 2025. After producing over 1.77 million vehicles last year, BYD surpassed Tesla by about 4,500 units to become the world’s largest EV maker. Meanwhile, Tesla delivered slightly more fully electric vehicles, with 1.78 million in 2024, compared to BYD’s 1.76 million.

With an influx of new rivals in China, BYD is aggressively expanding into new overseas markets. After entering Japan in 2023, a market dominated by domestic automakers, BYD surpassed Toyota in EV sales in 2024.

This week, BYD launched its first EV in South Korea, priced just over $20,000, marking its challenge to Hyundai and other local players on their home turf, Electrek noted. The company also aims to reinforce its presence in the South Korean market with the upcoming launches of the Seal sedan and Sealion 07 SUV later this year.

RECOMMENDED ARTICLES

Additionally, in Thailand, Japanese automakers have seen their market share drop from 90% to 76% over the past two years as BYD continues to expand its presence.

ABOUT THE EDITOR

Bojan Stojkovski Bojan Stojkovski is a freelance journalist based in Skopje, North Macedonia, covering foreign policy and technology for more than a decade. His work has appeared in Foreign Policy, ZDNet, and Nature.

RELATED ARTICLES