BYD has added the final vessel in its current maritime fleet, commissioning the car carrier BYD Jinan, the company said on Weibo on Monday.
The BYD Jinan, named after the eastern Chinese city of Jinan in Shandong province, one of the automaker’s largest production hubs, is the eighth car carrier to join the fleet. BYD described the fleet as “fully assembled,” indicating no immediate plans for further expansion.
The fleet already includes the BYD Explorer No.1, BYD Hefei, BYD Changzhou, BYD Shenzhen, BYD Xi’an, BYD Changsha, and BYD Zhengzhou. The BYD Zhengzhou, with a capacity of 7,000 vehicles, entered service in July, while the BYD Explorer No.1 has a smaller capacity of 4,000 units. Three of the ships in the fleet can carry up to 9,200 vehicles.
BYD did not specify the loading capacity of the new vessel. However, most of its fleet is capable of transporting around 7,000 vehicles, enabling annual export volumes to surpass one million units.
The move comes as Chinese automakers continue to expand aggressively into overseas markets, using self-operated fleets to accelerate exports and reduce reliance on third-party shipping providers.
