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Since 2025, the Middle Eastern car market has been witnessing a 'green revolution' led by Chinese brands. As an industry leader, BYD has taken the lead, announcing that it will launch the global promotion of its Yangwang brand from the Middle East at the beginning of 2026. Leveraging both technological advantages and localized strategies, BYD is driving breakthrough growth for Chinese new energy vehicles in this traditionally luxury car market, reshaping the pattern of Middle Eastern automotive exports.
The Middle Eastern market was once considered the "backyard" of luxury brands from Europe, America, and Japan. However, with Saudi Arabia forecasting that the electric vehicle market will reach $28 billion by 2030 and the implementation of policies like the UAE's "Net Zero by 2050" strategy, new energy vehicles are entering a period of policy-driven benefits. BYD has accurately seized market opportunities, breaking the traditional market pattern with high-end products: in the Israeli market, the ATTO 3 (Yuan PLUS) model sold 7,265 units in the first half of 2024, capturing a market share of 68.31%, creating a clear advantage over competitors such as Tesla; in the UAE, BYD models have accumulated over 1,000 deliveries, joining the ranks of police and royal vehicles alongside the Hongqi E-HS9, successfully entering the high-end segment. The Yangwang brand, planned for global promotion, will bring flagship models such as the limited U9 Xtreme supercar and the U8L Ding Shi Edition SUV, further filling the gap for Chinese brands in the Middle Eastern ultra-luxury new energy market.
Localization strategy has become the core engine for BYD's breakthrough in the Middle East. On the production side, BYD's $1 billion investment in a factory in Turkey is set to begin operations in 2026, with an annual production capacity of 150,000 vehicles, effectively bypassing regional trade barriers; in Egypt, by collaborating with GV Company to advance localized production, the goal is to achieve a 65% local content rate in parts within 3-5 years, significantly reducing production costs. On the channel and infrastructure side, BYD not only opened a store in Riyadh in 2024 to deepen its terminal layout, but also partnered with HubCo to build supercharging stations in Pakistan, addressing the shortcomings of the Middle East's charging network and creating an integrated 'vehicle-charger-storage' service ecosystem. From January to March 2025, BYD's sales in the Turkish market reached 8,211 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 893%, demonstrating the significant results of localization efforts.
BYD's advances in the Middle East are not an isolated case, but rather a microcosm of China's automotive exports. According to customs data, the UAE has risen to become the third-largest destination for Chinese car exports, with China's automotive exports to the UAE surging 46% year-on-year in 2024, of which new energy vehicles accounted for 21.6%. Led by BYD, Chinese car companies are making a collective breakthrough: NIO has received a total of $3.3 billion in investment from Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund, Chery Jetour's customized rugged SUV orders are booked through 2026, and Huawei Digital Energy has won the UAE's "Ten Thousand Charging Stations Plan," forming an overseas ecosystem for the Chinese automotive industry encompassing "vehicles, technology, and infrastructure."
Facing the current market situation where Japanese gasoline car sales have plummeted by 40% and European brands are struggling due to insufficient high-temperature adaptability, BYD is addressing the pain points of the Middle Eastern market through technological adaptability — its vehicles' air conditioning cooling efficiency exceeds European standards by 30%, and its battery thermal management system can maintain zero degradation under extreme conditions of 55°C, perfectly suited for desert climates. With the global promotion of the Yangwang brand in 2026 and the ramp-up of production capacity at its Turkey factory, BYD is expected to further expand its market share in the Middle East, opening a new path for Chinese automobile exports that is both high-end and localized, and accelerating the region's transition from an 'oil car paradise' to an 'electric vehicle oasis.'
