BUSINESS

BYD Hikes Price of Driver-Assistance System as Memory Chip Costs Surge

Published: Apr. 29, 2026 9:16 p.m. GMT+8

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Visitors tour the BYD booth at the 2026 (19th) Beijing International Automotive Exhibition. Photo: VCG

BYD Co. Ltd. will raise the price of an advanced driver-assistance system package on some models in May as surging memory-chip costs squeeze the auto industry.

The Chinese new-energy vehicle maker said Tuesday that the optional God’s Eye B driver-assist system will increase to 12,000 yuan ($1,757) from 9,900 yuan. The system supports complex urban navigation, a technically demanding feature that requires higher-performance computing and memory hardware than lower-tier systems designed only for highway driving.

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BYD raising God’s Eye B driver-assist price from 9,900 to 12,000 yuan ($1,757) in May due to memory-chip costs.
DRAM prices surged 93-98% Q1 2026, expected +58-63% Q2; vehicle memory use rose from 8-12GB to 100-200GB.
Auto profits hit 2.9% early 2026; BYD Q1 sales fell 30% to 700k units, net profit down 55.4% to 4.1B yuan.

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Who’s Who

BYD Co. Ltd.: BYD Co. Ltd. will raise its God’s Eye B driver-assist system price to 12,000 yuan ($1,757) from 9,900 yuan in May due to surging memory-chip costs. Q1 2026 sales fell 30% YoY to ~700,000 units; revenue dropped 11.8% to 150.2 billion yuan, net profit 55.4% to 4.1 billion yuan.

TrendForce: TrendForce estimates DRAM contract prices surged 93%-98% quarter-on-quarter in Q1 2026 and are expected to rise another 58%-63% in Q2.

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