News
China’s electric vehicle giant BYD is hitting a few speed bumps after years of seemingly unstoppable growth. The company, once the shining star of the EV boom and a formidable rival to Tesla, reported a sharp 33% drop in third-quarter profits, underlining the pressure to accelerate its push into global markets.
The Shenzhen-based automaker posted net income of 7.8 billion yuan ($1.1 billion) between July and September, down from 11.6 billion yuan a year earlier and below analyst forecasts. That said, the figure still marked a small rebound from the previous quarter. Revenue also slipped 3%, coming in at 195 billion yuan, another sign that the domestic market may be cooling off faster than expected.
BYD’s shares have tumbled more than 30% since their May peak, when optimism ran high following advances in fast-charging and self-driving technology. But Beijing’s campaign to curb aggressive price cuts and payment tactics has taken a toll, squeezing margins and dampening demand at home.
Despite the slowdown, BYD continues to dominate China’s EV scene, accounting for roughly 30% of new electric car sales so far this year. The company’s real growth story, however, may now lie overseas. It’s building factories in countries from Brazil to Hungary and even commissioning a fleet of eight cargo ships dedicated to exporting its cars. So far this year, exports have jumped 14% to more than 700,000 units, with BYD on track to ship up to a million vehicles abroad by the end of the year.
There’s also excitement brewing around BYD’s next wave of innovation. The automaker is reportedly close to launching a model powered by semi-solid-state batteries, a technology that promises greater range and efficiency. It’s also experimenting with “gigacasting”- a manufacturing method borrowed from Tesla that stamps massive sections of a car’s underbody in one go, reducing complexity and weight.
Looking ahead, BYD plans a major design refresh in 2026 to move beyond its long-standing “dragon face” aesthetic. With China now the world’s largest car exporter, BYD’s global footprint is likely to grow even faster. The next chapter in its journey may be less about outpacing local rivals, and more about winning hearts and roads abroad.
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