As BYD's share price rises in tandem with its deliveries, there are rumors that the company may acquire the passenger car business of SAIC, China's largest local automaker. The latter has denied this.
An investor recently asked SAIC on an exchange platform whether it was true that BYD would acquire SAIC's passenger car business, which SAIC said was a false rumor.
Separately, China Securities Journal quoted the company's investor relations source as saying that such a thing is impossible and having its own new energy brand is the trend.
As for SAIC's production progress in the new energy vehicle sector, the source said the company's high-end electric vehicle brand IM Motors will deliver its first product, the L7, by the end of this year, and another electric brand, the R brand, will have two more models next year.
In addition, SAIC was also questioned how BYD's market value is close to RMB 1 trillion ($154.38 billion) but SAIC's market value is only RMB 200 billion.
SAIC said that the share price fluctuations of listed companies are affected by multiple factors, and the current market value of the company does not fully reflect its proper value.
SAIC will sharply improve its operating performance while strengthening communication with the capital market so that more investors recognize the value of the company, it said.
BYD fell 3.27 percent to RMB 293.55 by Monday's close, with a total market capitalization of RMB 839.9 billion.
BYD has total sales of 426,972 units in 2020 and 205,071 new energy vehicles sold so far this year.
For comparison, SAIC closed today down 0.37 percent to RMB19.09 with a total market cap of RMB 223 billion.
SAIC will sell 5.6 million units in 2020, more than 13 times the volume of BYD. Its cumulative vehicle sales from January to July were 2.65 million units, up 5.71 percent year-over-year.
SAIC did not announce its new energy vehicle sales separately, but it said last week that its new energy passenger vehicle sales exceeded 10,000 for the fifth consecutive month, up 92 percent in July.
In the recently released Fortune Magazine World 500 list, SAIC ranked 60th, still ranking first among Chinese car companies.
