BYD August NEV sales hit 440,293, up 17.8%, record overseas demand

• BYD sold 440,293 NEVs in August, posting a fourth consecutive year-on-year increase and its highest monthly total this year.
• Overseas sales jumped 134.5%, while domestic sales still fell 14.3% year-on-year.

BYD (HKEX: 1211) sold 440,293 new energy vehicles (NEVs) in August, up 17.84% year-on-year, while its overseas sales set another record, according to data it released on Tuesday.

The figure rose 5.03% from July, marking the company's highest monthly total this year. It also represented a fourth consecutive year-on-year increase, extending the recovery from a weak start to the year.

Passenger NEV sales reached 433,384 units, up 16.66% year-on-year and 5.43% from July.

Commercial NEV sales totaled 6,909 units, surging 225.13% year-on-year but falling 15.11% from July.

Sales trends for all-electric and plug-in hybrid models continued to diverge. Passenger battery electric vehicle (BEV) sales reached a record 256,230 units, up 28.38% year-on-year and 9.92% from July.

Passenger plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) sales totaled 177,154 units, up 3.05% year-on-year but down 0.46% from July.

BEVs accounted for 59.1% of passenger NEV sales, up from 53.7% a year earlier, indicating that BYD's sales mix is shifting further toward all-electric models.

Overseas markets remained the main growth driver. BYD's overseas sales reached a record 189,466 units in August, jumping 134.45% year-on-year and 4.95% from July.

Overseas sales accounted for 43.03% of the company's total NEV volume for the month. Their year-on-year increase exceeded BYD's overall net sales gain, offsetting the decline in the domestic market.

BYD sold 250,827 vehicles in China in August, up 5.09% from July but still down 14.34% year-on-year.

From January to August, BYD sold 2,668,015 NEVs, down 6.84% year-on-year. The decline narrowed further from 15.72% in the first half of the year.

Over the same period, overseas sales rose 85.72% to 1,162,260 units, accounting for 43.56% of cumulative sales. Domestic sales fell 32.72% to 1,505,755 units.

The sales recovery could help ease pressure on BYD's earnings. The company's revenue fell 7.13% year-on-year in the first half, while net profit declined 20.54%, mainly due to weakness in its automotive business.

BYD previously said the transition from its first-generation Blade Battery to a second-generation version supporting flash charging had temporarily lengthened delivery times for several key models.

As production capacity increased, the company's sales set successive highs for the year in July and August. However, cumulative domestic sales remain down by more than 30%, showing that the current recovery is still heavily reliant on overseas expansion.