Warren Buffett-Backed BYD's Pure EV Sales Drop To Lowest In Five Months In July While Hybrid Vehicle Sales Surge 67%

Chinese EV giant BYD Co Ltd BYDDY BYDDF said on Thursday that the company sold 340,799 new energy passenger vehicles, marking a jump of nearly 31% from last year, despite a drop in battery electric vehicle (BEV) sales.

What Happened: Pure EV sales of the Chinese player fell to 130,000 units in July, marking a nearly 4% dip from the corresponding month of last year, and raising concerns about dwindling EV demand. This is the lowest EV sales recorded by the company in five months since February when the company sold just 54,908 BEV passenger vehicles.

The fall in BEV sales during the month, however, was offset by a 67% year-on-year rise in plug-in hybrid vehicle sales.

BYD, backed by Warren Buffett-led Berkshire Hathaway, is the biggest rival to American EV giant Tesla Inc. The company took over Tesla as the world’s largest BEV seller in the fourth quarter of 2023. However, Tesla took back the crown in the first quarter of 2024 and has been holding on to it since.

Competition In EV Sales: U.S.-listed Chinese EV startups Nio Inc, Li Auto, and XPeng also reported their July delivery numbers on Thursday with Li Auto topping among the three by a significant margin.

Li Auto said on Thursday that it delivered a record 51,000 vehicles in July, marking a 49.4% jump year-over-year.

XPeng also witnessed its deliveries rise in July but couldn't keep up with Li Auto's pace. The company delivered 11,145 vehicles last month, marking an increase of 1% year-over-year.

Shanghai-based Nio, meanwhile, delivered 20,498 vehicles in July, including 11,964 SUVs and 8,534 sedans. This marks a meager 0.2% rise from its sales in July 2023.

Geely’s luxury EV brand Zeekr Intelligent Technology Holding Limited ZK, meanwhile, saw EV deliveries rise 30% year-over-year to 15,655 units in July.

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