According to maritime media reports, BYD has ordered an additional 10 9,200 CEU car carriers, to be built by China Merchants Industry, with delivery planned for 2027 to 2029. If confirmed, its owned Ro-Ro fleet will increase from 8 to 18 vessels, with total capacity exceeding 130,000 CEU and annual export shipping capacity possibly reaching 2.5 million vehicles. In August 2025, BYD exported 184,000 passenger vehicles, up 131% year-on-year; from January to August, cumulative exports reached 1.127 million vehicles. It also faces an additional 17% EU tariff and the challenge of overseas localization. The order has not yet been officially confirmed.
【Body】
According to maritime outlet New Ships and shipping platform Robin Assasfina, BYD has placed an additional order for 10 car carriers (PCTC), each with a capacity of 9,200 CEU (car equivalent units), to be built by China Merchants Industry at Jinling Shipyard and Haimen Shipyard, with delivery scheduled between 2027 and 2029. The report did not disclose the contract value, and neither BYD nor the shipyards have issued an official announcement.
If the report is accurate, BYD's owned RoRo fleet will expand from 8 to 18 vessels, with a combined capacity of more than 130,000 CEU, of which the newly added capacity accounts for 92,000 CEU.
The Existing Eight: Assembled in Under Two Years
According to earlier reports, BYD's first car carrier, Explorer No.1, was delivered in January 2024. Built by CIMC, it was delivered to shipping company Zodiac Maritime and then chartered to BYD. Afterwards, Hefei, Changzhou, Shenzhen, Xi'an, Changsha and Zhengzhou entered service one after another; after BYD Jinan was put into operation in September 2025, the first fleet of 8 vessels was complete, a process that took less than two years in total.
All 8 vessels are RoRo (roll-on/roll-off), with vehicles driving on and off by themselves and no container loading required; depending on the ship type, per-vessel capacity is 7,200 or 9,000 CEU. All are PCTCs, with capacity measured in CEU rather than the number of vehicles of a given fixed size.
Reportedly, the original 8 RoRo vessels had an annual export transport capacity of about 1 million vehicles; CarNewsChina estimates that with the 10 additional vessels, BYD's annual export transport capacity will reach 2.5 million vehicles. It should be noted that this figure measures the upper limit of the fleet's carrying capacity and is not equivalent to actual annual export volume.
Export Growth and Overseas Factory Layout
Data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) shows that in August BYD exported 184,000 passenger vehicles from China, up 131% year on year and 6% month on month; this accounted for 35.4% of China's passenger vehicle NEV exports (including BEVs and PHEVs). Cumulative exports from January to August reached 1.127 million vehicles, up 88% year on year.
As for overseas factories, in September 2025, BYD Zhengzhou shipped right-hand-drive models produced at BYD's Thailand plant to the UK, the first vehicle export from that plant. Unlike Thailand, EVs produced in China are subject to additional tariffs in the EU — after the European Commission concluded its anti-subsidy investigation, BYD must bear an additional 17% on top of the existing 10% tariff.
Performance in the domestic market provides another backdrop: in August, BYD's main brand sold 184,000 vehicles in China, down 35% year on year; from January to August, cumulative domestic sales of the main brand were 1.15 million vehicles, down 43% year on year.
What Self-Owned Shipping Capacity Means for the Overseas Supply Chain
Auto exports depend heavily on RoRo capacity, while global PCTC capacity has long been tight and charter rates have been notably volatile. By building their own fleets or chartering vessels on a long-term basis, automakers can gain greater certainty in space guarantees, shipping schedules and cost control. BYD completed its first 8 vessels in under two years, and with capacity from overseas plants such as Thailand coming online, its overseas chain is advancing from single-track product exports toward "capacity + logistics" in parallel.
On the other hand, building one's own fleet is a heavy-asset investment. The contract value for this order was not disclosed, and the delivery period spans 2027 to 2029, during which global capacity supply and demand, tariff policies and the ramp-up of overseas plant capacity all remain variables. Once the fleet grows larger, load factors and the ability to organize return cargo will directly affect unit transport costs.
Information Still to Be Confirmed
As of now, this order has only appeared in maritime media reports; neither BYD nor China Merchants Industry has issued an announcement, and information such as the contract value, final ship configuration, charter arrangements and the specific delivery schedule has not been made public. The capacity estimates in this article are based on media reports and third-party estimates and should subsequently be confirmed against official disclosures.
