BYD gains on Tesla for EV sales crown with another record month
BYD notched another record month selling battery-electric and hybrid vehicles, putting the carmaker closer to surpassing Tesla for the first time on quarterly pure-electric vehicle (EV) sales.
The Chinese auto behemoth sold 301,095 electric and hybrid passenger vehicles in October, a 38.4 per cent increase from a year ago, according to a company filing on Wednesday (Nov 1). Sales rose 4.9 per cent compared to the prior month, amid a widespread slowdown in sales growth in China, the world’s biggest EV market.
BYD is responsible for selling roughly one in three new-energy vehicles in China. The company recently exceeded Volkswagen in the first quarter of this year as the biggest-selling auto brand in the country for the first time.
On the closely watched metric of fully electric car sales, BYD unloaded 165,505 units during the month. An average of 158,642 for three consecutive months would put BYD in contention to match or exceed the amount Tesla needs to move during the quarter to reach its 1.8 million annual sales goal.
BYD’s own target is to sell three million hybrids and EVs this year. October’s figure brings the company to 2.37 million year-to-date, on track to reach the 2023 goal. The EV maker appears willing to compete on price after announcing cuts for some models, including its best-sellers, for the month of November.
The company delivered record net income and revenue as third-quarter profit topped 10.4 billion yuan (S$1.97 billion), well ahead of analyst estimates. Revenue rose to 162 billion yuan. BYD was rewarded with its best quarterly gross margin in three years – though analysts were sceptical it could maintain such a robust performance.
Its Hong Kong-listed shares are up 21 per cent this year. BLOOMBERG
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