The Chinese automobile manufacturer BYD, the world's leading manufacturer in the electric segment, achieved a record profit in 2023, despite a price war in China in a market galvanized by strong demand for clean vehicles.
China, the world's leading producer of greenhouse gases in absolute terms, is targeting automobile sales in 2035 mainly made up of electric and hybrid vehicles.
The Chinese electricity market has experienced rapid development in recent years, driven in particular by purchasing subsidies, which however disappeared at the end of December 2022. To maintain the pace against a backdrop of economic slowdown, dozens of local manufacturers have embarked on a price war in China, the world's largest automobile market.
BYD nevertheless generated a net profit of 30.04 billion yuan (3.83 billion euros) last year compared to 16.6 billion yuan a year earlier, the group said in a press release.
This result is in line with the forecasts announced in January by BYD (between 29 and 31 billion yuan).
This is an increase of 80.7% over one year.
Net profit grew at a much faster rate in the 2022 financial year (+445.8%).
BYD's turnover for 2023 is also up year-on-year (+42%), at 602.3 billion yuan (76.8 billion euros).
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Construction of a car factory in Hungary
BYD (
“
Build Your Dreams
”
) is the main manufacturer in China in the electric segment.
BYD was founded in 1995 in Shenzhen, a metropolis in southern China where many technology groups (Huawei, Tencent, etc.) have their headquarters.
The company, initially specialized in the design and manufacture of batteries, diversified into automobiles from 2003.
BYD now markets hybrid or electric vehicles in around sixty countries, particularly in Europe.
The group announced in December the construction of a car factory in Hungary.
Last year, BYD became the first manufacturer in the world to reach the symbolic milestone of 5 million cumulative hybrid and electric vehicles produced.
The European Union (EU), concerned about competition from Chinese vehicles on its market, launched an investigation last year into suspicions of unfair competition.