BYD Sales continue to boom in Australia, but the Chinese car brand imports significantly more vehicles than it sells, allowing it to benefit from a loophole in the federal government’s new emissions rules.
The Australian Financial Review BYD’s inventories are reportedly significantly larger than those of not only Toyota and Ford, but also other Chinese brands such as GWM and MG, as the company uses the credit system under the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES).
According to the Register of Approved Vehicles, BYD imported 50,918 vehicles this year through the end of September, but sold 37,923 vehicles in the same period. In contrast, GWM imported 41,315 vehicles and sold 39,343, while MG imported 32,620 but sold 34,773.
As recently reported, BYD is using unconventional locations to store its unsold vehicles, including a temporarily closed water park south of Sydney in New South Wales.
With Daily Sparkz you can save thousands on a new car. Click Here to get a great deal.
Automakers that exceed their carbon emissions targets will receive credits based not on sales volume, but rather on the number of vehicles imported.
For every gram of carbon dioxide that falls below their CO2 limit, they receive a credit, and these credits can be sold to other automakers at risk of exceeding their own limits – resulting in penalties of $100 per gram of CO2, with the limits getting stricter every year between 2025 and 2029.
Companies like BYD that only sell electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) are unlikely to exceed their carbon targets, allowing them to collect credits.
BYD’s import strategy therefore allows it to generate significant revenue through the sale of carbon credits. Per AFRs Calculations and based on 2025 emissions targets, the company could earn $7,050 in credits for each imported Sealion 7 electric if it sold each of its credits for $50.
A spokeswoman for Transport Minister Catherine King said this AFR that a credit-at-point-of-sales compliance system would have been too complex to implement before the introduction of the NVES on January 1 this year and its penalties on July 1.
However, the government will reportedly consider shifting NVES compliance to the point of sale as part of a review of emissions regulations in 2026.
This also eliminates dealers’ concerns about being burdened with excess inventory.
“The effectiveness of the NVES system in reducing CO2 emissions is one of the key statutory objectives of the NVES Act,” the spokesperson said. “Therefore, the government would take seriously any attempt by manufacturers to deliberately undermine their operations.”
BYD says it is simply responding to expected strong demand for its products.
“Thanks to careful planning and a robust supply chain, BYD has built its vehicle fleet to meet further rapid growth forecast for 2026,” the company said AFR. “This will ensure Australian customers can continue to drive their new BYD vehicles as quickly as possible.”
BYD sales have increased a whopping 149.8 percent year-to-date, driven by recently launched products such as the Sealion 7 mid-size electric SUV and the Shark 6 plug-in hybrid SUV.
Only Chery – which was also found to be storing vehicles in unconventional locations – has shown greater year-to-date sales growth, with sales up 220 percent compared to January to September 2024.
MORE: BYD cars held in storage declared illegal as council rejects application
MORE: Explore the BYD showroom
