Warren Buffett Backed EV Maker BYD Reduces Shifts At Two China EV Plants

BYD Co, Ltd BYDDF BYDDY has reduced shifts at two auto assembly plants in China, signifying weaker demand in the largest auto market.
The Warren Buffett-backed company asked some workers at its Xian plant, its biggest manufacturing hub, to work only four days a week in a factory running two eight-hour shifts per day, Reuters reports citing familiar sources and an internal memo.
The Xian plant produces BYD's top-selling Song and Qin EV sedans.
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BYD also reduced shifts at its Shenzhen plant, which makes its Han sedans, from three shifts per day to two per day.
Reportedly, BYD has been cutting back on production in the face of weaker industry-wide demand in China since the start of the year.
BYD has also been slowing output since the start of the year when industry-wide sales began to stall, and China terminated a national subsidy program for EVs.
Analysts have credited aggressive discounts for creating some demand as other automakers borrowed a leaf out of Tesla Inc TSLA into a price war over market share, but industry-wide inventories have been rising.
Local Chinese authorities doled out buyer subsidies to drive demand, and some of these programs have started to extend to automakers to encourage manufacturing.
BYD began offering discounts for its best-selling Yuan Plus and Seal EVs in March and launched refreshed versions of its Han sedan and Tang crossover last week.