BEIJING — Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD Co., which is backed by U.S. investor Warren Buffett, on Tuesday reported a 42 percent drop in 2019 net profit as China’s EV subsidies cut hit customer demand.
BYD reported 1.61 billion yuan ($227 million) net profit in 2019, down from 2.78 billion yuan ($393 million) in 2018. Its revenue dropped 1.8 percent to 127.74 billion yuan ($18 billion) last year, from 130.05 billion yuan a year earlier.
The Shenzhen-based car company, which has partnerships with Japan’s top automaker Toyota and German Daimler’s partner in China, sold 461,399 vehicles in 2019, 11.4 percent lower from a year earlier.
It said in a stock exchange filing that China’s subsidy cut on electric vehicles and emission rule changes caused the sales slide in the world’s biggest auto market.
In 2019, China’s overall auto market dropped 8.2 percent from a year earlier while sales for new energy vehicles, which include battery electric, plug-in hybrid and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, fell 4 percent.
