BYD Suffers Third Successive Drop in Monthly EV Sales

By Simin Wen / Oct 11, 2019 04:36 PM / Business & Tech

Chinese carmaker BYD saw its electric vehicle (EV) sales plunge for a third consecutive month in September as broader car sales across the country remain stuck in reverse.

The company, one of China’s top EV makers, shipped 13,681 new energy vehicles in September, which include both battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids. That was down 50.9% compared with the same month last year.

Shipments of gasoline-powered vehicles actually surged 35.1% for the month to 27,048, the statement said. But gas-powered vehicle sales were down 31.2% for the year through September.

BYD’s travails are a common story across China’s EV industry. Since 2017, the central government has been gradually chipping away at subsidies for new-energy vehicles in a bid to streamline the industry and avert a bubble.

The latest cuts, which came in June, have hit the sales of multiple automakers. In August, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said that the production and sales of new-energy vehicles decreased 12.1% and 15.8% year-on-year, respectively. The government plans to completely withdraw subsidies in 2020.

The country’s ongoing economic slowdown, combined with its protracted trade war with the United States, is a further factor in its sputtering auto sales.

Related: China’s Electric Car Sales Drop for Second Straight Month