BYD, the China electric vehicle and battery leader backed by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, said on Sunday sales of new energy vehicles nearly doubled in June from a year earlier to 253,046 from 134,036 a year earlier, underscoring the popularity of EVs in the world’s largest auto market.
The company’s shipments in the first six months of the year also nearly doubled to 1.2 million, helped by improved economic growth in China and the end of industry disruptions from Covid-related lockdowns in Shanghai a year ago. BYD’s HK-traded shares have slid by a fifth in the past year amid intensifying price competition, yet its market capitalization of $100 billion tops that of both GM and Ford. Smaller, SUV-focused China EV maker Li Auto, led by billionaire Li Xiang, also reported a big year on-year sales gain of 150% in June to 32,575 vehicles.
BYD’s overall business is more diversified than its rivals — it also makes handset components and photovoltaics. Among its customers are Dell, Apple, Xiaomi and Huawei. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway holds an approximately 6% stake in BYD, which ranked No. 170 on the Forbes Global 2000 ranking of the world’s top publicly traded companies earlier this year.
BYD Chairman Wang Chuanfu holds a fortune worth $19 billion on the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires List today. BYD director Lu Xiangyang, a cousin of Wang who also leads investment firm Youngy Investment Holding, is worth $13.1 billion, and BYD director Xia Zuoquan, who leads investment firm Zhengyuan Capital, is worth $3.6 billion.
