Warren Buffett-Backed BYD’s EV Sales Soar To Record In September

BYD, the China-headquartered EV maker backed by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, said on Monday sales of new energy vehicles nearly tripled in September from a year earlier to 201,259 underscoring the popularity of EVs in world’s largest auto market.

The company’s sales in the first nine months of the year soared by 250% year-on-year to 1.18 million EVs, shaking off industry disruption from Covid-related lockdowns in Shanghai in the second quarter in part on the strength of its in-house battery supplies. Although not a household name globally like Tesla, BYD has stepped up overseas expansion this year with efforts in Japan and and Thailand.

Smaller China EV makers NIO and Li Auto also reported year on-year sales gains in September.

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 7% stake in BYD, which ranked No. 579 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 Vice Chairman Lu Xiangyang, a cousin of Wang who also leads investment firm Youngy Investment Holding, is worth $15 billion, and BYD director Xia Zuoquan, who leads investment firm Zhengyuan Capital, is worth $3 billion.

China has the largest number of billionaires in the world after the United States.

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@rflannerychina