BYD's October NEV sales fall on lower subsidies

Chinese automobile manufacturer BYD's new energy vehicles (NEVs) sales fell in October despite a rise in its January-October volumes.

BYD sold 12,567 NEVs last month, down by 55pc from 27,667 a year earlier and by 8pc from 13,681 in September. Its October sales fell for a fourth consecutive month following a reduction in government subsidies.

Beijing announced cuts in NEV subsidies in March, with a three-month transition period from 26 March to 25 June. NEV producers increased their output ahead of the expiry of the lower NEV subsidies on 25 June but output growth has since slowed.

Domestic NEV production fell by 35pc from a year earlier to 95,000 units in October, with sales down by 46pc to 75,000 units from a year ago, data from China's automotive manufacturers association CAAM show.

BYD's September sales included 7,588 all-electric vehicles, down by 42pc from a year earlier, and 4,454 plug-in hybrids that were down by 66pc from a year earlier.

The firm's sales during January-October were still on an upwards track. BYD sold 205,187 NEVs during January-October, up by 20pc from a year earlier, accounting for 54pc of its total vehicle sales of 376,925 units during the same period.

It sold 131,246 all-electric vehicles during January-October, up by 96pc from a year earlier, while sales of plug-in hybrids were down by 29pc from a year earlier to 66,715 units,

China's NEV sales rose by 10pc from a year earlier to 947,000 units during January-October. Sales of all-electric vehicles were up by 15pc to 750,000 units, while sales of plug-in hybrids fell by 6pc to 196,000 units in the same period.

BYD produced 0.599GWh of power and energy storage batteries last month, raising its January-October output to 11.152GWh.

It will more than double its EV battery capacity to 60 GWh/yr by 2020. This will be partly achieved through a 24 GWh/yr factory in Qinghai province, which is starting production this year.

BYD, one of the world's largest EV producers, has been increasing its battery capacity by working with raw material producers and other automotive manufacturers in the past few years. BYD on 7 November established a 50:50 joint venture with Japanese auto product Toyota to design and develop all-electric vehicles.

source: Argus Media