BYD doesn't really have a hold on the Danes. But the Chinese still build so many cars that they need the world's largest car ship. It sails with almost 10,000 cars.
Chinese car brand BYD has taken a new step in its global expansion by building the world's largest ship for transporting cars.
The ship, which can transport up to 9,200 cars, is a sign of BYD's ambitions to increase its exports, despite increasing punitive tariffs on electric cars from China in several countries.
Toyota and a wide range of other car brands use specially built RoRo (Roll-on/Roll-off) ships to transport cars over long distances.
BYD's new ship, "BYD Shenzhen", surpasses previous records with its capacity of 9,200 cars. The ship is 219 meters long, 37.7 meters wide and has a top speed of 18.5 knots (34.3 km/h).
This is reported by Carnews China .
"BYD Shenzhen" is powered by diesel and equipped with large battery packs. The batteries are not used to propel the ship forward, but to provide power when it is in port or in standby mode. BYD claims that this technology makes "Shenzhen" the most environmentally friendly car carrier.
Toyota does not yet have ships of this size in their fleet. "BYD Shenzhen" is the fourth ship in BYD's fleet of car carriers. The company plans to expand the fleet to eight ships by early 2026.
In comparison, BYD's first cargo ship, which was launched in 2024, could carry around 5,000 cars. Its sister ship "Hefei" has a capacity of 7,000 cars.
In 2024, China exported a total of 417,204 electric cars, including a growing number to Europe. BYD's investment in a fleet of large cargo ships indicates an expectation of continued growth in exports, despite trade barriers.
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Toyota and other major automakers will have to watch BYD's expansion with interest. The Chinese company's aggressive focus on exports could change the balance of power in the global auto industry.
Conversely, there are also voices in China who do not believe that the whole house of cards will hold. At Nio, which flopped last year and almost closed down in Denmark, the management still believes that it can become the world's largest car brand. Or at least one of the largest.
In fact, the car brand's director and founder William Li believes that five of the world's largest car brands will come from China in just ten years.
At Xpeng, the predictions are somewhat more gloomy. The brand's director He Xiaopeng believes that the coming years will be 'a hopeless race for separation' in the automotive industry. And that several car brands will have succumbed completely by 2027 as a consequence.
