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BYD concept car at a Beijing auto show (2018)
Photo: ROMAN PILIPEY/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
The car rental company Sixt wants to buy around 100,000 electric cars from the Chinese manufacturer BYD Auto over the next few years.
A first order includes several thousand vehicles, as Sixt announced on Tuesday.
Accordingly, the first vehicles should be available this year.
They will initially be offered to Sixt customers in Germany, France, the Netherlands and Great Britain.
A further 100,000 vehicles are to be put into service in several stages by 2028.
The step is remarkable for both partners: just a few years ago, Erich Sixt had announced that he gave »no future to e-cars«.
Now, however, these are rapidly becoming an important pillar in the Group's business model.
BYD Auto, on the other hand, is one of the largest car manufacturers in China and one of the largest electric car manufacturers in the world.
The company has set itself the goal of entering the German market and sees the deal with Sixt not least as an opportunity to demonstrate its vehicles to potential customers.
"Our goal is to inspire Sixt customers with our latest products and innovations in electric vehicles," said BYD manager Michael Shu.
In addition, Sixt and BYD state that they are exploring further opportunities for cooperation.
Tesla dethroned
The figure of 100,000 vehicles is also huge in relation to Sixt's total fleet size.
Most recently, the rental car company offered around 240,000 vehicles worldwide, directly or through franchise partners.
The group thus generated a profit of 442 million euros in 2021.
BYD Auto has so far mainly focused on sales in the Chinese domestic market, but has been pursuing ambitious expansion targets for some time.
In March 2022, the group surpassed the mark of 100,000 vehicles sold for the first time, and by the end of 2022 the company wants to have sold 1.5 to 2 million electric cars.
That would be a fourfold increase in production compared to the previous year.
According to media reports, the Chinese company is said to have replaced the US group Tesla in June as the world's largest e-car manufacturer.
beb/dpa
