BYD has released its 2023 Financial report. On March 26, BYD released its 2023 annual report to the public. The report shows that in 2023, BYD achieved operating revenue of 602.315 billion yuan, with a year-on-year increase of 42.04%. Among them, the revenue from automobiles and related products was 483.453 billion yuan, with a year-on-year increase of 48.9%, accounting for 80.27% of the total revenue; it achieved a net profit of 30.041 billion yuan, with a year-on-year increase of 80.72%; the non-net profit was 28.462 billion yuan, with a year-on-year increase of 82.01%. As of the end of 2023, the total assets were 679.548 billion yuan, with a year-on-year increase of 37.6%.
The significant growth in BYD’s profits is related to its strong performance in the automotive market. Official data shows that in 2023, BYD sold 3.0244 million vehicles, with a year-on-year increase of 67.79%, successfully achieving the set annual sales target of 3 million vehicles. Among them, the sales of pure electric vehicles were 1.5748 million, with a year-on-year increase of 72.84%, and the sales of plug-in hybrid vehicles were 1.4381 million, with a year-on-year increase of 51.98%.
Data shows that BYD’s gross profit margin of automobiles and related products in 2023 was 23.02%, higher than Tesla’s 18.2%, and also higher than Ideal Auto’s 22.2%.
Looking back on the past year, at the beginning of 2023, Tesla took the lead in lowering prices. After the significant price reduction of the domestic Model 3, it set a new historical low price, which drove the increase in sales. However, the price reduction and promotion also led to a continuous decline in Tesla’s gross profit margin. During this process, BYD drove sales growth by launching the champion version. With the significant increase in scale effect and supply chain management, the gross profit margin of automobiles increased to 23.02%.
In February 2023, the BYD Qin PLUS DM-i Champion Edition was launched, with a starting price of 99,800 yuan, directly challenging popular compact fuel vehicles such as the Nissan Sylphy and the Volkswagen LaVida. Since then, BYD has successively launched a number of models including the Han Champion Edition, Tang DM-i Champion Edition, Destroyer 05 Champion Edition, Seal Champion Edition, and Song Pro DM-i Champion Edition. The lower price of the models has also become the key to the stable growth of BYD’s sales. In addition, BYD has also launched the Yangwang and Fāngchéngbào brands. However, since the new cars of the two major brands were only delivered at the end of the third quarter of 2023, the proportion of new car sales of the new brands had little impact on the total sales in 2023.
Up to now, BYD has a total layout of the Dynasty Network, the Ocean Network, Denza, Yangwang, and Fāngchéngbào brands, with products ranging from million-yuan luxury to under 100,000-yuan levels. The Dynasty Network and the Ocean Network are BYD’s main products, among which the Dynasty Network occupies the majority of the market share, and a number of products dominate in the passenger vehicle segment. Retail data shows that in 2023, the BYD Qin PLUS New Energy, Song PLUS New Energy, and Yuan PLUS sales ranked in the top three, with sales of 434,000, 390,000, and 310,000 respectively. The combined sales of these three models reached 1.134 million, accounting for 41.9% of BYD’s total auto sales.
In addition, BYD is continuously laying out overseas markets. The latest announcement shows that BYD has entered many countries and regions such as Japan, Germany, Australia, Brazil, and the United Arab Emirates, which is also the reason for BYD’s good sales performance in overseas markets in 2023. Data shows that in 2023, BYD’s new energy passenger vehicles sold overseas reached 243,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 334.2%. It has become a top-selling brand in new energy in many countries, making BYD’s overseas business revenue reach 160.22 billion yuan in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 75.2%, with a growth rate much higher than that of domestic business of 32.9%.
According to the previous research report of Dongwu Securities, BYD actively promotes the layout of overseas markets, and the volume of overseas markets helps to increase sales. In 2024-2025, it is the product year, and the expected sales are about 4 million and 5 million respectively, with a year-on-year increase of 33% and 25% respectively. Industry insiders predict that the overseas market may also become a new growth point for BYD.
Since the Spring Festival of the Year of the Dragon in 2024, BYD has shouted the slogan of “lower electricity than oil”, launched a number of “glory editions” with lower prices, and further compressed the price space of the A0-level market by adopting the strategy of lowering prices and adding configurations. Among them, the prices of Qin PLUS Glory Edition and Destroyer 05 Glory Edition both start at 79,800 yuan, which is 20,000 yuan and 22,000 yuan lower than the 2023 models respectively. The listing of these two models will also bring the price of BYD models down to within 100,000 yuan. “Automotive Industry Focus” believes that the listing of a number of “glory edition” models may help BYD seize the traditional fuel vehicle market. In addition, BYD will also focus on luxury models. It is understood that BYD will launch a number of high-end luxury models in 2024 and beyond.
According to the plan, BYD has set a target of 4.5-5 million vehicles in 2024, which is 1.5-2 million more than the 3 million vehicles in 2023. However, the auto market in 2024 is different from that in 2023, and the competition in the new energy market this year will become more intense. Whether BYD’s listing of more new cars can attract more consumers may become an important part of whether BYD can achieve its annual sales target.
