Warren Buffett-Backed BYD Outdoes Nio, Xpeng, Li In Q1 EV Deliveries

Chinese automaker BYD Co Ltd’s BYDDF all-electric vehicle sales more than doubled in Q1 and it sold nearly twice as many overall electric vehicles as its close rival Nio Ltd NIO from January to March.

What Happened: BYD, which is backed by Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) (NYSE: BRK-B) Chairman Warren Buffett, sold 38,599 battery-powered electric vehicles in the first quarter, a 113% jump year-on-year, compared with Nio’s delivery of 20,060 electric vehicles.

BYD’s March electric vehicle sales were up 56% to 16,301 units, the company revealed in a filing on Tuesday. On a monthly basis, too, the company scored more than Nio’s delivery of 7,257 vehicles. 

In the new energy vehicle category, which includes hybrid as well as pure-electric cars, BYD sold 54,751 vehicles during the quarter, a jump of nearly 147%.

The BYD sales also came ahead of other Chinese rivals Li Auto LI and XPeng Inc XPEV.

Li reported deliveries of 12,579 for the first quarter, a climb of 334.4% from last year. Xpeng said its first-quarter deliveries totaled 13,340, which represented 487% year-over-year growth.

See Also: What's Happening With Li Auto Stock?

Tesla Inc TSLA said last week it delivered 184,800 vehicles in the first quarter, with 99% of these being Model 3/Y vehicles. This represented a 2.3% quarterly increase and a 109% year-over-year jump.

Chinese electric vehicle players have been ramping up production to meet growing demand amidst rising competition. The robust delivery numbers come even as automakers globally face a semiconductor chip shortage and China observed the Lunar New Year festival in the quarter.

Price Action: Shares of BYD closed 0.22% lower at $23.10 on Tuesday. Those of Nio closed 1.76% higher at $40, Li Auto closed 2.37% higher at $25.53 and Xpeng closed 2.78% higher at $37.01.

See also: How to Buy Nio Stock

Photo Courtesy: BYD