Warren Buffett sells stake in Byd worth $47 million

HONG KONG: World’s biggest electric car-maker Byd saw its stock nosediving by nearly 13 per cent on Wednesday after billionaire Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway reduced its stake in the company.

Berkshire sold 1.33 million shares in the automaker (under 1 per cent of its holding) in Byd for around $47 million, according to a filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, reports Nikkei Asia.

There is widespread speculation that Buffett will soon sell out his entire stake in Byd.

The sale came as Byd this week reported better-than-expected results for the first half of the year, registering $21.7 billion in revenue that was nearly 66 per cent up from the same period last year.

The sale of Buffett’s stock came as for the first time, China’s Byd Auto became the top-selling EV brand, dethroning Elon Musk-run Tesla in Q2 2022.

During Q2, Byd Auto shipped more than 354,000 EV units, an increase of 266 per cent YoY.

According to Counterpoint Research, the company officially stopped production and sales of internal combustion engine vehicles in March 2022 and has been focusing on the development of BEVs and PHEVs.

Over 60 per cent of Byd’s sales during the quarter came from its top three models - Byd Song, Byd Han and Byd Qin.

The company is slowly penetrating the European market. It has already begun operations in Norway and is looking to start business in Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands.

China remained the market leader in EV sales, followed by Europe and the US.

China’s EV sales increased by almost 92 per cent YoY to reach 1.24 million units from just 0.64 million units in Q2 2021.