The BYD sales number for August tops that of July which came in at 50,492.
BYD Auto, an electric automaker subsidiary of BYD Ord Shs A (SHE: 002594) has reported an increased number of car sales for the month of August. As reported by CNBC, the company sold 61,409 new energy vehicles in the previous month, with the sales figure coming in more than about 300% compared to the vehicles sold in the year-ago period.
The demand for electric vehicles has soared in the past year as top players in the industry have continued to record impressive sales numbers. While the coronavirus pandemic had its toll on the general industry, many automakers have largely surmounted the delivery challenges to maintain their performance.
Backed by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A), the BYD sales number for August tops that of July which came in at 50,492. The automaker is one of the largest in China, a major hotspot for electric vehicles. There are other competing startups in the country including Nio Inc (NYSE: NIO), Li Auto Inc (HKG: 2015), and Xpeng Inc (NYSE: XPEV), all of which are aiming to grab a good market share.
The August sales for the trio came in at 10,000, however, the metric is based on delivery figures and not the sales that are being recorded by BYD.
Global Chip Shortage: Is Berkshire Hathaway-Backed BYD Affected?
The advent of the coronavirus pandemic caused a ripple effect in global chip production, straining its availability for use in electronics and by automakers. A number of companies have come out to express how chip scarcity is impacting production, as well as revenue figures.
An earlier report by Coinspeaker highlighted the strain being faced by General Motors Company (NYSE: GM) after the firm announced that it will be closing its production assemblies in two continents due to the menacing semiconductor chip shortage.
The firm said its production in the United States, Canada, and Mexico will be halted for two weeks starting today.
“These most recent scheduling adjustments are being driven by the continued parts shortages caused by semiconductor supply constraints from international markets experiencing COVID 19-related restrictions,” the company said in a statement. “During the downtime, we will repair and ship unfinished vehicles from many impacted plants, including Fort Wayne and Silao, to dealers to help meet the strong customer demand for our products.”
The chip shortage challenge is also an issue for BYD. While the CNBC report noted that the firm did not make any comment on the August figures, it is effectively showing a conservative price outlook for the rest of the year. As detailed in its half-year results released last month, the company said that “profitability is affected to some extent by factors including rising prices of raw materials such as bulk commodities.”
With the chip shortage not likely to be resolved in the near term, the chances for firms like BYD to stay afloat is to get a good grip of more customers in China and other major markets around the world.
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