ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lankan customers have ordered over 5,000 BYD electric vehicles and hybrids which being delivered as shipments arrive from China, JKCG Auto, a unit of John Keells Holdings has the agency in the island said.
“The momentum has been very good, more than we expected,” Krishan Balendra, Chairman of John Keells Holdings said.
“And we have reservations for over 5,000 vehicles right now.”
JKCG Auto will progressively increase the models available in Sri Lanka, he said. The Shark-6, a pick up truck was just launched.
The Sealion – 6 plug-in hybrid was the hottest selling vehicle initially, but now the demand for all-electric vehicles is increasing, head of JKH’s retail sector Charitha Subasinghe said.
BYD and JKCG inked an agreement Tuesday to distribute Denzo luxury vehicles.
The John Keells Holdings annual report said JKCG will also start distributing BYD commercial vehicles.
BYD promises around 400 kilometres on a single charge. Charging stations have also been set up at John Keells supermarkets in several key locations.
BYD offers a warranty of 160,000 kilometres or 8 years, whichever comes first according to their worldwide warranty, General Manager of JKCG Auto, Charith Panditharatne said. T
The battery will be replaced if the charge falls below 80 percent, he said. The rest of the vehicle has a 6-year warranty.
BYD has become the top selling vehicle brand in a number of markets.
Lie Xueling, General Manager of BYD Asia-Pacific, said a discount offered to the firm’s Chinese customers will not apply to Sri Lanka. The discount is to promote sales in the June ‘shopping season’ , he said.
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Share prices of BYD and its competitors plunged Monday as investors do not expect prices to be restored to previous levels.
When JKH was approached to become the agents for BYD, the group had no prior experience in vehicle distribution.
“It was a new business for us, and we normally do not look at getting into new businesses,” Balendra said.
“But the main driving factor in making the decision to enter the partnership was that it was a sustainable business in terms of being environmentally friendly and something that is very clearly good for the country.
“And from everything that we have learned over the last few months, not knowing the business previously, it is clear that the transition from the combustion-engined vehicles to electric vehicles is likely to be very new vehicles to electric vehicles going forward.”
Cinnamon Hotels has also acquired 7 Denzo units, he said.
Running costs of EVs were sharply lower than petroleum driven cars, JKCG officials said. For those with solar panels, operating costs were even lower, they said.
Petrol in particular is heavily taxed which helps finance the cost of the road network for the government.
Unlike in East Asia electricity does not have value added tax. (Colombo/May28/2025)
