BYD sales fell for the first time in 19 months in September following lukewarm demand in China and government pressure to rein in cut-throat price competition, reports the Financial Times. The Chinese electric vehicle champion sold just over 396,000 cars last month, down 5.5% from a year earlier, according to a Hong Kong stock exchange filing on Wednesday.
The decline ended a growth streak that began in February 2024 for the Shenzhen-based company, which analysts said would increase pressures for the Tesla rival to expand sales outside China.
BYD “really doesn’t care about the domestic market any more”, said Feng Xiao, co-head of China industrial research at CLSA, estimating that profits from exports would account for more than half its total earnings for the first time next year. Rather than cut prices and face potential punishment from regulators, he said BYD “chose to lie down in China.”