Yangwang

Launched in China in January 2023, Yangwang exists largely as a technology showcase for BYD, a place to put the company’s most advanced engineering into genuinely halo-status products rather than anything aimed at volume sales. Its first model, the U8 off-road SUV, arrived that September priced from roughly 1,089,000 yuan (around £120,000), instantly becoming one of the most expensive mass-produced cars ever built in China. The U9 electric supercar and U7 luxury sedan followed, rounding out a three-model line-up spanning off-roading, outright speed, and sporting luxury.

Yangwang passed 10,000 cumulative sales by April 2026, the first Chinese brand to reach that milestone in the million-yuan price bracket, though 2025 itself was a rockier year for the brand, with U8 sales down 62% year-on-year as the initial novelty wore off and buyers had more to compare it against. All three core models received a significant update in March 2026, gaining BYD’s second-generation Blade Battery and flash-charging technology.

Yangwang’s global expansion is now properly underway, starting with the Middle East in early 2026, followed by Europe and the Americas. A BYD executive has specifically named 2027 as the target for a UK entry, later than Denza or BYD’s own mainstream models, but a genuinely concrete timeline rather than vague long-term ambition. Given Yangwang’s cars have already appeared at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in recent years, British enthusiasts have had an early taste of what’s coming.