216 Inches: BYD's New $300,000 Sedan Skips China for UAE Debut

BYD's Yangwang division is preparing to debut a new electric sedan in the United Arab Emirates at a starting price of roughly $300,000, a price point that exceeds the current top of its lineup.

Yangwang general manager Hu Xiaoqing confirmed the vehicle will launch globally in the UAE rather than China, though no specific date was provided. The model is designed to compete with ultra-luxury brands including Rolls-Royce, Bentley, and Mercedes-Maybach.

Local reports estimate the car's length at 5,500 mm, or 216 inches. This places the sedan in a size category comparable to the Rolls-Royce Phantom and Mercedes-Benz Maybach S-Class. The vehicle was recently spotted at a BYD flash charging station, suggesting it supports megawatt charging speeds.

The sedan introduces several firsts for the automaker. It features rear-hinged coach doors and is reported to be the first BYD model to use solid-state batteries. Executive vice president Stella Li previously stated that BYD's first solid-state battery vehicle would debut in 2027.

Zheng Yu, Yangwang's executive general manager, described the car as featuring "unprecedented disruptive technology" but did not specify the mechanical or software details. The vehicle sits atop the company's brand hierarchy, which includes the Denza and FangChengBao sub-brands.

The new sedan will cost significantly more than the brand's current highest-priced vehicle, the U8L plug-in hybrid SUV, which starts at $217,000. The U7 electric sedan, the brand's other four-door passenger car, begins at $98,000. BYD has expanded its range in recent years to include supercars and pickup trucks alongside its entry-level models like the Seagull, which sells for under $10,000 in China.