(Yicai Global) March 1 -- Chinese new energy vehicle giant BYD plans to launch a new electric car brand this year. According to sources, the marque’s first model aims to compete with Mercedes-Benz’s G-Class sports utility vehicle.

The new brand, internally codenamed ‘F,’ will take on overseas luxury carmakers Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi, Yicai Global learned from a source yesterday. And it will not only encompass off-road vehicles but also various other car types, such as sports vehicles, and sports sedans, the person added.

The F brand will develop different types of auto products with their own characteristics to meet different needs based on BYD’s accumulated technological know-how, the Shenzhen-based automaker has said. It is essential for BYD to be able to offer all manner of cars and satisfy all kinds of customer needs.

BYD’s existing brands are Dynasty, Ocean, Denza, and Yangwang. The F brand will be positioned between the Denza and Yangwang marques. The Denza D9 launched last year and is priced at between CNY335,000 and CNY660,000 (USD48,370 and USD95,300). The Yangwang brand has only luxury models that cost more than CNY1 million (USD144,400) each.

BYD ranked first in the global NEV market by sales last year. It sold 1.9 million units in 2022, up 152 percent from the previous year. In January, sales jumped 62 percent to 151,241 NEVs from a year earlier.

Editors: Zhang Yushuo, Futura Costaglione