China's BYD Lowers Its 2010 Sales Target by 25 Percent, Cites Capacity Constraints
By Scott Doggett August 4, 2010
Only 24 hours after we reported that BYD Auto is experiencing a serious sales slump, the Chinese automaker announced today that it had cut its sales target by 25 percent to 600,000 autos this year due to capacity constraints.
Right, a BYD Auto F3 taxi in Xian, China.
----------
Analysts had expected BYD to revise down its target after the Chinese company's auto sales in June fell 21 percent from May.
Sales of the F3 model, BYD's most popular car last year, slumped 30 percent during the first half of this year. At the halfway point, BYD had made only 36 percent of its vehicle-sales target of 800,000 for this year.
"China's car market is still good in the second half, although growth will probably not be as strong as the first half," BYD spokesman Henry Li told Reuters news service.
China's car market, which had been red-hot last year, started to lose some of its steam in the second quarter.
BYD was not alone in seeing its sales growth slow in July compared with previous months. Ford's China car venture saw its July auto sales fall 6.3 percent to 18,255 units. Toyota said its China car sales climbed merely 1.0 percent last month.
BYD began selling the world's first mass-produced, plug-in hybrid vehicle - the BYD F3DM - in December 2008. During the same month, legendary U.S. investor Warren Buffet spent $230 million buying up a 10% stake in BYD for his Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate holding company.
The automaker is hoping to start selling its e6 all-electric vehicle in the U.S. later this year. The model is currently being field-tested in China.
LEAVE A COMMENT