China's BYD surpasses Tesla in quarterly revenue growth for first time

Investing.com -- Chinese electric vehicle (EV) giant BYD (SZ:002594 ) posted an 11.5% increase in net profit for the third quarter, the company announced Wednesday, benefiting from robust sales and government trade-in incentives.

Net profit reached 11.6 billion yuan ($1.63 billion) for the July-September period, with cumulative net profit for the first nine months rising 18.1% to 25.2 billion yuan.

Third-quarter revenue rose 24% year-on-year to 201.1 billion yuan ($28.24 billion), marking the first time BYD’s quarterly revenue exceeded Tesla’s, which posted $25.2 billion in the same period.

BYD continued to dominate the Chinese EV market, accounting for over a third of EV and plug-in hybrid sales in the country this year. The company hit record monthly sales in September and set a new high for quarterly sales in the third quarter.

Both BYD and competitors like Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA ) have gained from expanded “old-for-new” incentives aimed at promoting cleaner vehicles. Industry data shows China's car sales reversed a five-month decline last month, supported by these government subsidies.

As of late October, 1.57 million people had registered for a national subsidy offering up to $2,800 for trading in older cars, and local governments are contributing additional EV subsidies up to 20,000 yuan, set to expire at year-end.

BYD led growth in the quarter by offering competitive discounts on its top models, with plug-in hybrid sales surging 75.6% year-on-year to 685,830 units, spurred by the company’s advanced plug-in hybrid technology that enhances fuel savings.

However, pure EV sales saw slower growth, up 2.7% to 443,426 units, as the company faced stiffer competition in the EV market from other Chinese brands.

A Morgan Stanley report in September showed BYD has set a higher sales target for the year, aiming to double exports to 450,000 vehicles, though this is a revised figure from its earlier 500,000 export goal.

BYD’s push into Europe, despite new tariffs, has also contributed to growth, with overseas sales up 32.6% year-on-year to 94,477 units in the third quarter.

Source: Investing.com