BYD’s Datang SUV Frenzy Collides with Factory Gloom as May Sales Loom

BYD enters a defining week stalked by two contradictory narratives. The Chinese electric-vehicle giant has racked up more than 100,000 pre-orders for its new Datang SUV, yet the stock is brushing against its 52-week low and official data show the country’s factory sector stalling. Investors are left to decide which force will steer the shares.

The launch of the Datang, a three-row SUV fitted with BYD’s next-generation Blade Battery 2.0, was originally scheduled for May but has been pushed back to 8 June. The company blames its own success: production cannot keep pace with demand. The vehicle can charge from 10% to 70% in roughly five minutes and boasts a driving range of up to 950 kilometres, with a starting price around €33,000 in China. BYD is targeting the mass family segment, but management concedes that manufacturing capacity for the latest battery technology is stretched. In addition to the Datang, the Song Ultra remains in high demand — both models feature roof-mounted lidar and advanced driver-assistance systems at accessible price points.

The production bottleneck comes against a backdrop of weakening industrial momentum. China’s official manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) slipped to 50.0 in May from 50.3 in April, according to the National Bureau of Statistics and the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing. More worrying, the sub-index for new orders dipped below the expansion threshold to 49.9 for the first time in months. Output held at 51.2, but the widening gap between production and orders signals that price pressure in China’s EV market will persist. A second reading, the S&P Global China General Manufacturing PMI, is due Monday morning — giving investors two macro snapshots before any company-specific data.

Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying BYD?

April’s delivery figures already illustrated the challenge. BYD reported 321,123 EVs sold via the Hong Kong exchange, down from 380,089 a year earlier. The cumulative January-to-April tally stood at 1,021,586 units, a decline of 26.02% year-on-year. The product mix continued to shift: 156,944 battery-electric vehicles versus 157,156 plug-in hybrids. Exports reached 135,098 units, and installed battery capacity — for both vehicles and energy storage — came in at roughly 20.977 GWh. The May sales numbers, expected in the first days of June, will test whether April marked a stabilisation or merely a pause before another leg down.

The H-shares closed Friday 29 May at HK$91.30, up 1.11% for the session but down roughly 15.7% over the past 30 days. The intraday range was HK$89.15 to HK$93.30, with the low sitting dangerously close to the 52-week trough of HK$88.50. On the upside, the day’s high at HK$93.30 forms the first resistance, followed by the mid-May level around HK$95.00 — technical markers rather than valuation calls.

The week ahead is packed with scheduled events. BYD’s annual general meeting will take place on Tuesday, 9 June at 10:00 a.m. in Shenzhen. H-share holders must lodge transfer documents by 3 June at 4:30 p.m. to vote on the 2025 business report, audited accounts, profit appropriation proposal and the appointment of auditors for 2026. For income-focused investors, the ex-dividend date falls on 11 June, after the AGM approves the distribution. Whether the payout can cushion the stock’s recent slide will depend heavily on how the market interprets the May sales figures and the Datang’s ability to convert pre-orders into deliveries. The Hong Kong exchange is open the entire week, with the next holiday not until the Tuen Ng Festival on 19 June, giving traders a full five sessions to digest the incoming data.

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