By Marco Engemann

Shenzhen/Hong Kong (China) - The Chinese car manufacturer BYD significantly increased its profits last year with a strong rise in sales. At 40.3 billion yuan (5.1 billion euros), the Shenzhen-based company made around a third more profit on the bottom line, according to a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange.

Turnover increased by 29 percent to the equivalent of around 99 billion euros. BYD sold 4.25 million cars, 1.76 million of which were purely electric. This year, the Chinese market leader plans to sell between 5 and 6 million cars.

BYD is growing primarily thanks to its affordable electric cars in China - also because the e-car market there continues to grow rapidly and foreign manufacturers are lagging behind in terms of development times and costs. In 2023, BYD and its core brand took the market leadership in China, which it had held for decades, from the Wolfsburg-based Volkswagen Group .

While US rival Tesla has recently had problems in the People's Republic, BYD's growth has continued in the first few months of the new year. In 2024, Tesla was still slightly ahead worldwide in terms of pure battery cars with 1.79 million vehicles.

However, BYD has now overtaken the Americans in terms of sales. BYD also manufactures battery storage systems.

Just recently, BYD presented a charging system in its electric cars that can charge the battery capacity for a range of 400 kilometers in just five minutes. BYD is also introducing advanced driver assistance systems in cheaper models.

The Hong Kong-listed share has climbed by around half this year alone.