Chinese electric vehicle (EV) giant BYD (BYDDF) is planning to double its overseas sales to more than 800,000 units in 2025, Chairman Wang Chuanfu told analysts during the post-earnings call yesterday. Of the 4.27 million autos sold in 2024, only 417,204 units (roughly 10%) were sold outside China. Thus, BYD sees a big opportunity in exporting vehicles to other countries, where governments and consumers are more welcoming to Chinese brands.
Having said that, Chuanfu mentioned that the company currently has no plans to export to the U.S. and Canada owing to the ongoing trade tensions. Canada and the U.S. have both imposed a 100% tariff on imports of Chinese EVs.
BYD Unveils Strategy to Boost Exports
To boost exports to other countries and avoid the growing impact of tariffs, BYD aims to source materials from China and assemble vehicles locally. The company particularly expects a significant rise in its market share in UK, which Chuanfu said is “very open” to competitive Chinese products. BYD also hopes to expand its exports in Latin America and Southeast Asian countries.
Haunted by the intense price war and subdued demand for EVs in China, the automaker is setting sight on foreign markets to bolster sales. Tesla’s (TSLA) rival company is already opening factories in different markets, including Brazil, Thailand, Hungary, and Turkey, and plans to continue expanding its geographical footprint. Chuanfu also mentioned that he expects a majority of BYD’s profits to come from exports “at a certain stage,” without giving a specific timeline for the same.
The chairman is also confident that the company’s profit per auto will surpass that of Japan’s Toyota (TM), once it reaches the latter’s scale, because he believes BYD’s cost controls are far better than Toyota’s. For reference, Toyota sold 10.8 million autos in 2024, making it the world’s largest automaker by sales.
Notably, BYD reported solid quarterly performance yesterday, with a 73.1% rise in Q4FY24 profits and a 53% jump in revenues, compared to the same period last year. However, its margins contracted to 17% from 21.9% reported in Q3FY24 owing to increased costs.
Is BYD Stock Good to Buy?
With eight unanimous Buy ratings, BYDDF stock commands a Strong Buy consensus rating on TipRanks. The average BYD price target of $56.55 implies 11.6% upside potential from current levels. In the past year, BYDDF stock has gained 87.5%.
