The world’s top selling EV maker is speeding through price wars, leaving Tesla in the dust. Elon who?
Tesla rival BYD is the EV maker you probably never heard of. Based in Shenzhen, BYD (ticker: 1211 in Hong Kong) sold more than five times than what Tesla shipped in China even as Elon Musk has launched a wild price-cutting spree in a bid to boost sales.
BYD’s net income for the first quarter marked a formidable 400% year-over-year jump to 4.13bn yuan ($596.5mn). On a quarterly basis, the figure pulled back some 43% from the fourth-quarter profit of 7.3bn yuan (~$1bn), a record high. Average sale price came in at about $31,000 per car. Tesla’s average was $47,000 per unit.
Fun fact: Warren Buffett’s colossal conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway owns about 10%, or $4bn, worth of BYD shares. The Oracle of Omaha has trimmed down his position after he had accumulated a 20% stake last August. On the year, BYD shares are up just over 17%.
