Reuters

SHANGHAI — BYD Co. on Wednesday cut the starting price of its best-selling Seal sedan by 10 percent, as the Chinese electric vehicle giant seeks to extend its lead in the world's largest auto market with lower-priced products.

BYD, China's best-selling electrified vehicle maker, launched the Seal sedan under its Ocean series in July 2022 with a sporty design style and intelligent features.

It sold 19,573 Seal cars in the first quarter, while China sales of the Model 3 totalled 42,782 in the same period, data from China Passenger Car Association showed.

The EV price war is also drawing sales away from internal combustion engine vehicles as the price gap between the technologies narrows.

BYD has so far led the new energy vehicle market with its various offerings of battery-only and plug-in hybrid models priced under 300,000 yuan. At the recent Shanghai autoshow, it hit headlines by unveiling an electric hatchback costing half the price of the cheapest NEVs available elsewhere.

It has outgrown Germany's Volkswagen as the best-selling passenger vehicle brand in China in the last two quarters.

But signs of weaker demand are also appearing as BYD reduced shifts at two of its auto assembly plants in recent weeks, Reuters reported in March.