Chinese electric car maker BYD reported a record 73.1% increase in net profit in the fourth quarter of 2024 to 15 billion yuan ($2.1 billion). The company's quarterly revenue rose 52.7% to 274.9 billion yuan.
Over the past year, BYD's profit rose 34% to 40.3 billion yuan, while revenue rose 29%. The company's shares in Hong Kong have increased 51% since the beginning of the year and are now close to an all-time high, which was reached last week.
BYD, China's leader in electric cars, has overtaken Volkswagen to become the top car seller in China, selling a record 4.25 million vehicles in 2024. The company continues to produce cheaper models, fueling a price war in the world's largest auto market.
BYD has also been invigorating the market in recent weeks, introducing a new platform for electric cars with super-fast charging and announcing plans to offer innovative driving features for most of its models at no extra cost. BYD's overseas deliveries rose 71.9% last year, accounting for 10% of total car sales.
Meanwhile, the US and European auto industries are struggling. Tesla's sales in Germany fell by more than three-quarters in February, according to the German KBA road authority, despite an overall increase in electric car sales. The company sold just 1,429 cars in Germany, down 76% from a year earlier.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk's support for far-right parties in Europe, including the German AfD party, which came in second in the latest national elections, appears to have hurt Tesla's sales on the continent. Car sales in January fell by more than three-quarters compared to a year earlier 45%.
Earlier, German car giant Volkswagen reported a sharp drop in annual profit in a challenging year due to high production costs and tough competition from China. Net profit in 2024 fell by 30.6% to 12.4 billion euros ($13.4 billion), although total sales rose slightly to 324.7 billion euros.
Rising costs and difficulties have particularly hit Volkswagen in switching to electric vehicles, where it faces tough competition from Chinese rivals. The company's deliveries to China, its largest domestic market, fell by almost 10% last year, leading to a 3.5% drop in overall sales to 9 million vehicles worldwide.
