Photo/Illutration Chinese electric-car maker BYD Co.’s ATTO 3 (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Chinese automaker BYD Co. will introduce its first electric vehicle for Japan at the end of January, aimed at customers shopping in the mid-price range, where the pickings are slim.

BYD’s ATTO 3 SUV will be marketed at a tax-inclusive 4.4 million yen ($32,000). Analysts said the price point and timeline should cause alarm among Japanese automakers who are lagging behind on electric vehicles.

Shenzhen-based BYD is second only to Tesla Inc. in the global sales of electric vehicles and plans to establish a foothold in Japan over the next few years.

Atsuki Tofukuji, president of BYD Auto Japan, which handles sales and services in the Japanese market, said he is confident the ATTO 3 will sell well here.

“The model is in the size category most popular in the local market,” he told a Dec. 5 news conference. “I believe it can compete with rival models in the same class.”

The ATTO 3 is 4,455 millimeters long, 1,875 mm wide and 1,615 mm tall, making it slightly smaller than the bZ4X SUV model that Toyota Motor Corp. began selling earlier this year.

The Chinese model has a range of 485 kilometers based on global standards and comes with a wide interior and 440 liters of luggage room.

Sales of the SUV start on Jan. 31, with deliveries expected from March.

If the central government’s subsidies for purchasing electric vehicles next year remain at the same level as this year’s, customers could get up to 850,000 yen in subsidies, reducing the price tag to 3.55 million yen.

Some customers should be able to buy them at even lower prices, though, since local governments sometimes provide their own electric vehicle subsidies.

BYD plans to set up dealerships in stages across Japan from 2023 in response to customers placing importance on maintenance and other services when they consider purchasing cars.

The carmaker expects to open more than 100 outlets equipped with rapid chargers by 2025.

BYD rolled out the ATTO 3 to the Chinese market in February, later expanding sales to Singapore and Australia.

The carmaker is also eyeing the introduction of two others to the Japanese market. It plans to roll out a small model, the Dolphin, in the middle of 2023 and a sedan, the Seal, in the latter half of the same year.

The Japanese market for electric cars is still small in contrast with the European and Chinese markets, where sales of electric vehicles have been rapidly expanding in recent years.

The Sakura minicar and the eK X EV, two electric cars with a range of 180 km, were introduced to the domestic market this year. They were jointly developed by Mitsubishi Motors Corp. and Nissan Motor Co. and are available at a price point under 2 million yen if subsidies are used.

Nissan’s Sakura has proved a big hit, with about 33,000 orders as of the end of October. It had just hit the market in June.

But overall, the market for electric vehicles is crowded with expensive models from Tesla and German automakers.

Japanese car companies, including Toyota Motor Corp., are not faring well in the electric car market.

Except for Nissan’s Leaf, few electric vehicles are on offer in the range of 3 million to 4 million yen.

Seiji Sugiura, a senior analyst with Tokai Tokyo Research Institute Co., said the ATTO 3’s price point will be attractive to Japanese customers.

“Given almost all electric vehicles remain expensive, Japanese carmakers would view BYD’s foray with a sense of threat,” he said. “BYD has the potential to gain first-mover advantage by winning over many customers.”

According to an auto industry group, electric vehicles accounted for only 2 percent of Japan’s overall car sales in November. Electric-gas hybrids are popular because their prices are lower than fully electric vehicles and motorists do not need to worry about charging.

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