The post BYD now dominates Uruguay’s EV market, selling thousands of units in a country where electric cars make up 25% of new sales appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.

BYD is everywhere in Uruguay right now; on city streets, country roads, and parked outside supermarkets. What used to be a stronghold for gas-powered cars built by Ford, Fiat, and Toyota is now flooded with cheap Chinese EVs, according to Bloomberg. And BYD is leading that pack. The country’s electric vehicle boom has gone from buzz to full-blown takeover, backed by lower taxes, high fuel costs, and a growing web of charging stations. All of this is happening in a country of just 3.5 million people. Through October, EVs made up 25% of new car and SUV sales in Uruguay. That number has doubled from last year and smashes what’s being seen in Brazil, Chile, and Colombia, where adoption still lingers in the low single digits. Uruguay got there fast by removing a 23% import tax and cutting passenger car duties. It didn’t hurt that gasoline is nearly $7.40 per gallon, pushing locals to seek out anything that doesn’t guzzle fuel. The data comes from Acau, the national auto trade group, according to a report from Bloomberg. Chinese automakers dominate as BYD’s prices pull in the masses China’s grip on Uruguay’s EV market is tight. About 90% of the 11,000 electric cars and SUVs sold this year came from Chinese brands, mostly BYD, JAC, and Omoda. Rafael Rabioglio, head of Latin America research at BloombergNEF, called the arrival of low-cost Chinese EVs a “game changer.” He projected that battery electric and plug-in hybrid sales would cross 8% of new passenger car sales across Latin America in 2025, up from 2% in 2023, totaling more than 400,000 units. “If it wasn’t for the Chinese, I’m not sure we would have seen this transition happening recently in Latin America,” Rafael said. The BYD Seagull, priced just under $20,000, is roughly in the…

---

Filed under: News - @ November 18, 2025 10:24 pm