Warren Buffett-Backed BYD Outdoes Nio, Xpeng, Li In Q1 EV Deliveries

Chinese automaker BYD Co Ltd’s (OTC: BYDDF) all-electric vehicle sales more than doubled in Q1 and it sold nearly twice as many overall electric vehicles as its close rival Nio Ltd (NYSE: NIO) from January to March.

What Happened: BYD, which is backed by Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) (NYSE: BRK-B) Chairman Warren Buffett, sold 38,599 battery-powered electric vehicles in the first quarter, a 113% jump year-on-year, compared with Nio’s delivery of 20,060 electric vehicles.

BYD’s March electric vehicle sales were up 56% to 16,301 units, the company revealed in a filing on Tuesday. On a monthly basis, too, the company scored more than Nio’s delivery of 7,257 vehicles. 

In the new energy vehicle category, which includes hybrid as well as pure-electric cars, BYD sold 54,751 vehicles during the quarter, a jump of nearly 147%.

The BYD sales also came ahead of other Chinese rivals Li Auto (NASDAQ: LI) and XPeng Inc (NYSE: XPEV).

Li reported deliveries of 12,579 for the first quarter, a climb of 334.4% from last year. Xpeng said its first-quarter deliveries totaled 13,340, which represented 487% year-over-year growth.

See Also: What's Happening With Li Auto Stock?

Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) said last week it delivered 184,800 vehicles in the first quarter, with 99% of these being Model 3/Y vehicles. This represented a 2.3% quarterly increase and a 109% year-over-year jump.

Chinese electric vehicle players have been ramping up production to meet growing demand amidst rising competition. The robust delivery numbers come even as automakers globally face a semiconductor chip shortage and China observed the Lunar New Year festival in the quarter.

Price Action: Shares of BYD closed 0.22% lower at $23.10 on Tuesday. Those of Nio closed 1.76% higher at $40, Li Auto closed 2.37% higher at $25.53 and Xpeng closed 2.78% higher at $37.01.

See also: How to Buy Nio Stock

Photo Courtesy: BYD