While more investors are plugging into the reality of China’s slowdown these days, the country’s version of Tesla is at risk of being disconnected from it—maybe literally. Electric-car maker BYD reported revenue for the first half of the year up 21% year-over-year, even as China’s overall car-sales growth decelerated to 4.7%, the slowest pace since 2009. BYD can certainly boast that its new-age vehicles electrify its relative performance. It sold about four times as many electric and hybrid cars in this period as the year...
Chinese automaker BYD has long enjoyed the support of the Chinese government, reflected in the fact that it sold about four times as many electric and hybrid cars in 1H this year as the year before, many of these plug-in hybrids. However, such vehicle sales make up only 19% of the company's total revenue, and as the WSJ says: "...The rest is made up of conventional cars, batteries, solar cells and handsets, not exactly businesses whose profit potential excites these days." Furthermore, many competitors will launch electrics and hybrids in the next two years, particularly indigenous car maker Great Wall Motors, which will likely price its cars as cheaply as possible.