BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese electric vehicle giant BYD set a 3.6 million sales target for 2024, up 20% from its record-breaking sales last year, China Business Network (CBN) reported on Wednesday.

The company aims to sell 500,000 vehicles overseas this year, more than double last year's total, and expects that to reach 1 million in 2025, Chairman Wang Chuanfu was reported to have told a BYD investor meeting.

BYD did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

Wang's remarks came after BYD posted its slowest quarterly profit growth in two years, with EV sales losing momentum in the world's biggest auto market.

The new energy vehicle industry has entered a "knockout round" with a battle in scale, cost and technology over 2024-2026, Wang was reported as saying.

Over the next three to five years, the market share of joint ventures in China would fall from 40% to 10%, he estimated.

BYD will launch its next-generation plug-in hybrid system in May, CBN reported.

Fifth-generation DMI technology for BYD hybrids would enable fuel consumption of 2.9 litres per 100 km and combined ranges of up to 2,000 kilometres, Wang said.

BYD's current hybrid system's fuel consumption is 3.8 litres per 100 km, with combined ranges above 1,200 km.