BYD was set up in 2003 and caught American billionaire Warren Buffett’s eye in 2008. Through Berkshire Hathaway, he reportedly has a 25% stake in the Hong Kong-listed company.
Warren Buffett-backed BYD revealed its performance report which was ahead of most analysts’ expectations. The Chinese automaker BYD revealed that it was ahead of its competitors having sold a total of 16,301 units of battery-powered electric cars. In the same period, Nio only managed to deliver 7,257 units. Xpeng on the other hand managed less than 5,102 cars.
The company managed to sell even more hybrids with figures showing that it sold 23,000 units. In the first quarter, the Buffett-backed automaker sold a total of 53,380 cars in the new energy division. A look at the traditional oil-fueled vehicles, BYD sold 49,394 cars. In total, the automaker sold 104,145 new vehicles. This is a 69.97% increase from 2020. An indication that the economy in China is quickly recovering.
Chinese Electric Cars Automakers Fall Behind American Companies
Demand for vehicles rose in China this year compared to the first quarter of 2020 when the country was hit hard by the Covid 19 pandemic. According to China’s Ministry of Public Security new motor vehicle registrations reached a record 9.66 million. Of this, 466,000 (roughly 6%) were new electric vehicles. This has helped maintain the percentage-81.5%, of electric vehicles from last year.
Compared to the US, China is still lagging behind in the adoption of electric vehicles. Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA), the global leader in electric automakers, announced that in the first quarter of the year it delivered 184,800 units. Part of this was to China but the automaker did not close the exact figure. However, it noted that the Model Y was on-demand making it the third most sold electric car in February according to China Passenger Car Association. To keep up with demand, Tesla revealed plans to quickly progress to a full production capacity of its Shanghai plant.
How Much Is Warren Buffett Invested in Cars Maker BYD
BYD was set up in 2003 and caught American billionaire Warren Buffett’s eye in 2008. Through Berkshire Hathaway, he reportedly has a 25% stake in the Hong Kong-listed company.
The company has recorded consistent growth over the last couple of years propelled by a growing demand for electric cars. As the first-quarter report shows, the company sold more new energy vehicles than oil-fueled vehicles. Equally, the ministry has seen the demand for electric cars maintained.
BYD is clearly ahead of NIO and Xpeng, which are its local competitors, however, on a global scale, it is falling behind Tesla. With the American automaker setting up shop in China, BYD faces major competition to maintain its sales on an uptrend.
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