BYD plans to enter Japan’s micro-car market with new EV

Atsuki Tofukuji, president of BYD Japan, confirmed in an interview with the Financial Times that the company will launch a new low cost micro-EV explicitly designed for overseas markets and not sold in China

Chinese NEV maker BYD plans to enter Japan’s 18 billion USD microcar market in 2025 with a low-cost electric vehicle as part of its expanding global strategy. Atsuki Tofukuji, president of BYD Japan, confirmed in an interview with the Financial Times that the company will launch a new micro-EV explicitly designed for overseas markets and not sold in China. As reported earlier, BYD plans to launch an affordable microelectric vehicle in Japan in the second half of next year, targeting a price of around 2.5 million yen (approx. $ 17,700), undercutting its own Dolphin model, which sells for about 2.9 million yen (approx. $ 14,000). 

The new kei car will feature a 20 kWh battery with a WLTC range of 180 km, support 100 kW fast charging, and a heat pump HVAC system. Aimed at competing with Japan’s top-selling electric microcars—the Nissan Sakura and Mitsubishi eK X EV—it may become the first foreign EV explicitly designed for the Japanese kei segment. As microcars grew to 46.3% of Japan’s EV sales in 2022, up from just 2.6% in 2021, BYD is positioning itself to tap into this rapidly expanding market, having already sold 4,530 vehicles in Japan by March 2025.