Warren Buffett-Backed BYD Reports 37% Drop In February Sales, Breaking Growth Streak

Chinese EV maker BYD Co Ltd BYDDY BYDDF on Friday reported a near 37% year-over-year drop in sales volume for February 2024.

What Happened: BYD sold a total of 122,311 new energy vehicles last month, including 23,291 units overseas, as compared to the 193,655 vehicles it delivered in February last year.

These new energy vehicles include both passenger and commercial vehicles which are either fully electric or hybrid. The Shenzhen-based company backed by Warren Buffett‘s Berkshire Hathaway announced that it stopped production of oil-fueled vehicles in April 2022. Since then, it has only been making new energy vehicles.

In the battery electric vehicles (BEV) segment, the company sold 54,908 units, nearly 39% lower year-on-year, and down about 48% from January when the company sold 105,304 BEVs.

Why It Matters: BYD's February month sales growth marks a change for the company after reporting growth in sales in 2023 and even January 2024.

In the fourth quarter of 2023, BYD took over Tesla as the biggest battery electric vehicle (BEV) seller with about 526,000 units sold. Tesla sold only about 485,000 vehicles in the quarter.

In 2008, Berkshire invested around $230 million in BYD, obtaining 225 million shares and a 20.49% stake in Class H shares. Over time, it has reduced its stake and now holds approximately 87.6 million BYD H Shares, equivalent to a 7.98% stake.

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