BYD reports first annual profit decline as EV battle reaches ‘knockout stage’

BYD posted its sixth consecutive month of profit decline. The Chinese automaker confirmed a nearly 20 percent drop in profits for 2025 and an even bigger drop of 38.2 percent in the final three months of last year.

According to the Financial TimesBYD reported full-year net profit of 32.6 billion yen ($6.88 billion), with operating cash flow falling 50 percent, ending years of uninterrupted financial growth for the company.

Accordingly, BYD’s profit margin has fallen Reutersby 1.8 percentage points to a still healthy 20.5 percent.

It marks the automaker’s third consecutive quarterly profit decline and follows a workforce cut in 2025.

The decline continued into 2026, as BYD’s market share in China fell from 27 to 17 percent by the end of February.

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The Financial Times BYD Chairman Wang Chuanfu warned that the rivalry between the brands has reached its peak in China and is now entering a brutal “knockout phase”, suggesting a period of consolidation for the Chinese auto industry after its massive expansion since 2020.

The hybrid and electric vehicle (EV) maker is now turning to exports, among other things, for growth possibly unlock sales in the USA – the world’s largest new car market outside of China, where it is not currently for sale.

BYD sold 2.3 million electric vehicles worldwide in 2025 – more than Tesla’s 1.6 million – displacing its US rival as the world’s best-selling electric vehicle brand of the year.

However, BYD’s total sales of 4.6 million, including plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs), fell short of its previously stated target of 5.5 million sales in 2025.