SHANGHAI: Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD’s production slid for a second straight month in August while sales at home dropped for a fourth month, as it faced a bruising price war in the world’s largest auto market.
BYD’s quarterly profit fell for the first time in three and a half years, according to results released on Friday, reflecting how pressure to stay competitive was beginning to take a toll on the world’s biggest EV producer.
The company’s shares fell sharply on Monday.
BYD made 353,090 electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids (PHEV) globally last month, down 3.78% from a year earlier, according to a monthly filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Monday. That follows a 0.9% drop in July.
Its sales in China slid 14.3% year on year to 292,813 vehicles, down for a fourth consecutive month, even as global sales remained slightly up. China sales account for nearly 80% of BYD’s total sales.
BYD’s quarterly profit falls for first time in 3-1/2 years as price wars bite
A drop in BYD’s PHEV production and sales since April persisted, while overall EV sales grew 34.4% and production rose 26% in August versus a year earlier. BYD has begun making and selling more EVs than PHEVs since April.
Monday’s data suggests the company has met 52.1% of its yearly sales target of 5.5 million units in the first eight months.
Analysts at China Merchants Bank International said they had cut their forecast for BYD’s sales this year by 5% to 4.9 million units, as they “believe BYD has become more cautious about its inventories”.
BYD, the biggest Chinese rival to Tesla, has slowed its production pace in recent months by reducing shifts at some factories in China and delayed plans to add new production lines, Reuters reported in June.
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