BYD to Spend Nearly $688M on Ships to Reduce Global Logistics Costs

According to a report by Caixin on October 28, a BYD affiliate intends to order eight ships capable of carrying 7,700 cars in Shandong Province, with a total cost of nearly 5 billion yuan ($688 million). Among them, six ships are determined to be built, while the other two ships are optional.

China’s automobile exports have increased greatly, but a lack of shipping capacity has led to soaring freight rates. Therefore, domestic auto firms plan to expand their capacity and reduce shipping costs. In May this year, SAIC also ordered three ships capable of carrying 7,800 cars through its logistics subsidiary, with a cost of about $300 million. At present, the logistics company operates a total of 31 ships, including six foreign trade ships.

BYD once said that its NEV operations cover more than 400 cities around the world. In addition, the firm unveiled its product matrix in Europe this month, which is expected to be sold and delivered in Q4 of this year.

A financial report released by BYD on October 28 showed that the company’s revenue in the first three quarters of this year was 267.69 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 84.4%, while the net profit was 9.31 billion yuan, up 281.1% year-on-year. The net profit in the third quarter alone was 5.72 billion yuan, setting a new high.

BYD performance has increased significantly, mainly driven by the automobile sector. In the first three quarters of this year, the cumulative sales volume of BYD’s NEVs exceeded 1.18 million units, up 249.56% year-on-year, and the sales volume exceeded 200,000 units for the first time in September. According to current sales progress, it is expected to complete the annual target of 1.5 million units ahead of schedule.

Due to the long delivery cycle of new vehicles, the orders after the price increase in the first quarter of this year were delivered on a large scale in the third quarter, which led to an increase in profits in the period. In order to improve the profit margin, BYD is making efforts in the high-end market, and plans to launch a brand-new high-end brand in the fourth quarter, with the starting price exceeding one million yuan.

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Competition between BYD and Tesla has escalated on a global scale. BYD has become the world’s first enterprise with annual sales of NEVs exceeding one million units ahead of Tesla. In the first three quarters of this year, Tesla delivered 909,000 vehicles worldwide. Tesla lags behind BYD in terms of sales, but its profit is much higher than BYD. Tesla’s revenue in the first three quarters of 2022 reached $57.14 billion, a year-on-year increase of 58.3%, while its net profit reached $8.87 billion, a year-on-year increase of 177.3%.