It is a historic day for China’s answer to Tesla. BYD, the Chinese automaker backed by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, has overtaken Tesla to become the world’s top electric carmaker by sales. China’s carmakers have razor thin margins, but sales are accelerating fast.
BYD sold 641,000 vehicles in the first six months of the year, up more than 300 per cent from the previous year. That compares to 564,000 vehicles sold by Tesla, hit by supply chain and operational disruptions due to China’s lockdowns.
China, once largely seen as a domestically focused electric car market, exported more than half a million electric vehicles last year, more than double the previous year. Government policy has played a part: Beijing requires a fixed quota of electric vehicles to be made each year.
Much of the sales growth is based on low prices. For example, the Hongguang Mini, the best selling electric model in the world last year, was priced at Rmb28,800 ($4,300), before price hikes this year. BYD has a wider range of offerings, including a $34,000 extended-range model. Its pricing is much lower than global counterparts, with a starting price of $15,000 after subsidies for its Dolphin model.
These cheap electric cars make slim profits. SAIC-GM-Wuling, the maker of the Hongguang Mini, posted very thin profit margins last year. BYD operating margins fell below 2 per cent last year. For Tesla during the same period these were 12 per cent.
Ultra low pricing strategies are not sustainable. Global prices of raw materials have soared. Electric cars subsidies are set to be phased out by the end of the year. BYD has lifted the prices of its cars and batteries this year, in line with global peers.
Nonetheless, China increasingly dominates the lithium battery supply chain. That will support the sales growth of its electric carmakers. Shares of BYD have gained a third in the past year, unaffected by the broader sell-off in Chinese equities. They trade at 99 times forward earnings, an 80 per cent premium to Tesla.
The test for BYD will be whether it can attract similar demand overseas. The potential is greatest in south-east Asia and Japan where there is growing demand for small and low cost electric cars. Rapid growth in these price sensitive markets would justify the valuation gap.