Author | Zhou Zhiyu

BYD, which triggered a price war and stirred up the Chinese auto market in the past 18 months, suddenly stopped.

On the evening of July 25th, BYD released the Song L DM-i and the 2025 Song PLUS DM-i. The fifth generation DM technology was first applied to SUV models.

The fifth generation DM technology is BYD's fist technology this year. With its support, the Song L DM-i and 2025 Song PLUS DM-i have a comprehensive fuel consumption of 3.9 liters per one hundred kilometers and a full electric range of more than 1500 kilometers. In the actual test shown at the conference, the range test result even exceeded 2000 kilometers. BYD intends to use its technological strength to refresh the SUV fuel consumption history.

However, the pricing of the two new models from BYD did not explode as usual.

Before the launch of the new cars, the market expected the starting price of the two new models from BYD to be around CNY 1.298 million ($200,000), but the officially announced guide price range was CNY 1.358-1.758 million ($209,000 - $271,000), which is CNY 6000 ($925) more expensive than the price of the previously launched Song PLUS DM-i Honor Edition.

In other words, BYD did not make extraordinary low prices to break the previous pricing system and stir up the market. The Qin L DM-i and Haibo 06 DM-i launched at the end of May have a starting price as low as CNY 0.998 million ($154,000), which is lower than the market's expectation of around CNY 1.2 million ($185,000).

After that, the already intense price war in the auto market was further intensified, and various car companies continued to follow suit. There was constant debate on the issue in the public opinion field.

Now, with BYD not offering "super expected" prices for its two new models, many car companies have breathed a sigh of relief. Just this week, models such as the Guangqi Aion V and the Changan Shenlan S07, which are positioned as mid-size SUVs and aimed at the mainstream market, were launched.

The Shenlan S07 is equipped with the Huawei Qankun intelligent driving ADS SE system with visual solutions, while the Aion V is equipped with a "1 NVIDIA Orin-X chip + 1 LIDAR + 5 millimeter wave radars + 11 cameras" intelligent driving program, which are both prominent in intelligent driving capabilities.

BYD's two new cars have been upgraded to the fifth generation DM technology, as well as four-link suspension, DiLink intelligent cockpit high-end version-DiLink 100, and the use of 6nm Qualcomm SM7325.

This configuration means that BYD's strategy is still aimed at the just need consumers, to create an affordable and durable small car, and its competitors are mainly joint venture car companies, whose user groups pay more attention to parameters such as endurance and safety.

And even though they did not adopt an aggressive pricing strategy, compared to joint venture car companies in the same price range, BYD's two new models are still quite competitive.

With the launch of the Song L DM-i and the 2025 Song PLUS DM-i, BYD hopes to continue to exert its efforts and accelerate the increase of market share in the mainstream market, especially the mainstream SUV market.

For many years, the sales of China's A-class sedans have been dominated by joint ventures, until independent brands such as Geely, Changan, and BYD entered the market, gradually changing the market pattern.

The same situation occurred in the SUV market, which was dominated by joint venture brands until the appearance of Great Wall Hover, which changed the situation of the A-class SUV market being dominated by joint venture brands. From 2013 to 2021, the Haval H6 won the SUV market sales championship for nine consecutive years.

Later, Changan, Guangqi, Chery, and BYD all launched multiple SUV models, continuously increasing the market share of independent brand SUVs. The market share of independent brand SUVs has risen from 28% in 2011 to 55.4% at the end of last year.

He Zhiqi, Executive Vice President and COO of BYD's passenger vehicle division, said that in the past two to three years, many Chinese car brands have started to make efforts and launched a series of new energy products. Everyone has made great progress in technology, design, quality, and service, and the market share has also increased year by year. There are more and more Chinese brand SUVs in the front ranks of the sales rankings for each level. Everyone has guarded the SUV market together.

With the help of the rising trend of independent brand SUVs, the BYD Song series has become the main force for BYD to become the "new energy hero". Last year, the Song Plus sold more than 427,000 vehicles throughout the year, and its monthly sales volume is often above 40,000 vehicles this year.

China International Capital Corporation believes that the fifth-generation DM new car cycle is opening, which will complete BYD's hybrid products price range and consolidate its market share. According to China Passenger Car Association data for June, the terminal sales volume of the first models equipped with fifth-generation DM technology, the Qin L DM-i and the Haibo 06 DM-i, were 20,100 and 14,000 units, respectively.

With the addition of new members to BYD and a less aggressive pricing strategy, BYD will further push towards its annual sales target. The market will also usher in a window period, and car companies will get a long-lost breather.

However, when the market enters the peak season in August and September, will BYD launch the 'honor version' of the Song to continue stirring up the market? This is worth observing. The elimination game in the auto market is far from over.