⚡ China's biggest EV brand is building its own shipping line
BYD has reportedly ordered ten more 9,200-CEU car carriers. That would take its own fleet to 18 ships and more than 130,000 car-equivalent units of capacity — a direct signal of how much metal it intends to land in Britain and Europe between 2027 and 2029.
London, 13 September 2026 — BYD has reportedly ordered ten more pure car and truck carriers (PCTCs), each capable of carrying 9,200 car-equivalent units (CEU), according to Middle Eastern maritime title Robban Assafina and shipping publication New Ships, both citing industry sources. Neither BYD nor the shipbuilder has publicly confirmed the order, and no contract value has been disclosed — so the expansion should be treated as industry-reported rather than official.
If confirmed, the ships would grow BYD's dedicated fleet from eight vessels to 18 and push combined capacity past 130,000 CEU. China Merchants Industry is reported to be building them at its Jinling and Haimen yards, with deliveries phased between 2027 and 2029.
From eight ships to eighteen
BYD completed its first eight-ship fleet in September 2025 with the handover of BYD Jinan. The group began with Explorer No. 1, delivered in January 2024, and grew to include Hefei, Changzhou, Shenzhen, Xi'an, Changsha and Zhengzhou. Individual capacities are 7,200 or 9,200 CEU depending on the vessel.
All are roll-on/roll-off (RoRo) ships with LNG dual-fuel engines, and BYD has fitted them with its own Blade Battery systems to supply onboard power — a neat piece of vertical integration that lets the company move cars and its own battery technology on the same hull. BYD has previously said that owning vessels cuts its shipping cost per vehicle by 30–40% compared with third-party charters.
CarNewsChina estimates that the original eight ships can export around one million vehicles a year, and that ten more could lift shipping-based export capacity to roughly 2.5 million vehicles annually. That is an industry estimate rather than a figure confirmed by BYD.
Why it matters in Britain
BYD's UK numbers make the shipping build-out easy to understand. Since launching its first model here in March 2023, the brand has registered more than 110,000 vehicles in Britain. Through August 2026 it had registered over 48,000 cars this year — up 98% year on year — and now accounts for 3.48% of the UK new car market, nearly double the 1.92% share it held a year earlier.
That trajectory is being achieved while the UK's zero-emission vehicle mandate pushes every manufacturer towards higher electric volumes. More owned ships means more predictable arrival schedules, fewer cancelled allocations when global RoRo capacity tightens, and a shorter gap between a model being announced for Europe and turning up in UK showrooms.
None of it is charity, of course. BYD's exports from China reached 1.127 million vehicles in the first eight months of 2026, up 88% year on year, with 184,000 cars shipped in August alone — more than a third of China's passenger new-energy exports. Meanwhile its main brand's domestic sales fell 43% over the same period. Overseas markets, Britain included, are now where the growth is.
Thailand-built cars and the tariff gap
BYD's ships are no longer just moving Chinese-built cars. In September 2025 BYD Zhengzhou carried right-hand-drive vehicles from the company's Thailand plant to the UK — the first export shipment from that factory. Thailand-built cars sit outside the EU's countervailing duties on Chinese-made EVs, under which BYD faces an extra 17% on top of the standard 10% import tariff. The UK applies its own trade regime rather than the EU's, but the same logic applies: where a car is built now changes what it costs to sell.
For UK buyers the practical read-across is supply. A larger owned fleet gives BYD more freedom over which factory feeds which market, and more scope to keep right-hand-drive models in stock when shipping capacity is scarce.
What happens next
Nothing in this changes what you can buy today. The reported ships are not due before 2027, and BYD has not confirmed the order, so the 18-ship fleet and the 2.5 million-vehicle export estimate are both forward-looking numbers.
The direction of travel, though, is hard to miss: the company that registered around 48,000 cars in Britain this year is building the logistics to sell considerably more.
If you are weighing up a BYD, start with our reviews of the BYD Atto 3, BYD Dolphin Surf, BYD Seal and BYD Sealion 7 — or browse the full electric car library to see how they stack up against more than 40 rivals on sale in the UK.
