BYD's PHEVs have continued to hit record highs over the past three months, performing significantly better than BEVs, reflecting the overall market's greater acceptance of hybrid models.
BYD (HKG: 1211, OTCMKTS: BYDDY) continued to post its second-highest sales ever last month, with plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) sales seeing particularly strong growth.
The company sold 331,817 new energy vehicles (NEVs) in May, further closing in on last December's all-time high of 341,043 units, according to figures it released today.
That's up 38.13 percent from 240,220 in the same month last year and up 5.93 percent from 313,245 in April.
BYD ceased production and sales of vehicles powered entirely by internal combustion engines in March 2022, switching to focus on the production of PHEVs and battery electric vehicles (BEVs).
BYD's NEVs include passenger cars as well as commercial vehicles, with passenger NEVs selling 330,488 units in May, up 38.23 percent year-on-year and up 5.91 percent from April.
Its commercial NEVs sold 1,329 units in May, up 17.82 percent from a year ago and up 11.03 percent from April.
Among BYD's passenger NEVs, PHEVs have performed significantly better than BEVs in the past few months, reflecting the overall market's greater acceptance of hybrid models.
BYD sold 146,395 passenger BEVs in May, lower than the record 190,754 vehicles sold in December last year. That's up 22.40 percent year-on-year and up 8.87 percent from April.
BYD sold a record 184,093 passenger PHEVs in May, up 54.07 percent year-on-year and up 3.67 percent from April. This is the third consecutive record high for BYD PHEV sales since March.
The company unveiled its fifth-generation DM (Dual Mode) technology on May 28, as well as its first two new models based on the hybrid technology, the Qin L DM-i and the Seal 06 DM-i, in a bid to solidify its leadership in the NEV industry.
Morgan Stanley said in a research note that BYD's move will help its own sales and growth in overseas markets, but at the same time will potentially lead to tougher price competition, especially for traditional combustion-engine carmakers.
In May, BYD sold 37,499 vehicles in overseas markets, up 267.53 percent year-on-year but down 8.56 percent from April.
BYD announced its overseas sales figures for NEVs in July 2022 for the first time.
In addition to being China's largest NEV company, BYD is also China's second-largest power battery maker.
BYD's installed base of power and energy storage batteries amounted to about 14.159 GWh in May, up 23.24 percent year-on-year and up 12.74 percent from April.
In the January-May period, BYD sold 1,271,325 NEVs, up 26.8 percent year-on-year.
It sold 1,266,934 passenger NEVs in January-May, up 27.14 percent year-on-year, and 4,391 commercial NEVs, down 28.19 percent.
BYD's passenger BEVs sold 580,974 vehicles in January-May, up 18.9 percent year-on-year, while passenger PEHVs sold 685,960 vehicles, up 35.07 percent year-on-year.
In overseas markets, BYD sold 176,409 vehicles in January-May, up 176.71 percent year-on-year.
BYD's installed battery volume in January-May was 56.454 GWh, up 16.56 percent year-on-year.
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