The company reported Tuesday that its sales of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles soared 313% in April from the same month a year earlier. headquartered in shenzhen revolutionary soldier it sold a record number of 106,000 units last month in mainland China.
BYD had already had a good start to the year.
April’s stellar performance showed that BYD is “fully resistant to the Shanghai city lockdown and [the] industry supply chain disruption,” Citi analysts wrote on Tuesday.
That’s thanks to its “vertical integrated supply chain,” they added. Apart from vehicles, BYD is a major manufacturer of both battery and automotive chips, which it uses in its own cars and also sells to other car manufacturers.
This integrated business model made the company less vulnerable to supply chain disruptions during ongoing lockdowns in China, while rivals had to cut production due to chip and battery shortages.
Hit of rivals
At least 27 Chinese cities are under some degree of Covid lockdown, affecting around 180 million residents, according to CNN’s latest calculations last week.
Li Auto also posted a 62% drop in car deliveries in April, compared to March, citing “supply chain issues.” In a statement on Sunday, Shen Yanan, the company’s co-founder and chairman, said some of its suppliers had halted production entirely as Covid-19 cases surged in the country.
“This had a huge impact on our production this month, resulting in delays in the delivery of new cars,” he said.
Elon Musk’s electric vehicle maker reported strong sales in March, delivering 65,814 cars from its Shanghai factory, up 85% from a year earlier.