BYD's 2025 Profit Slumps 19% Amid China's Cutthroat EV Market
Chinese electric vehicle (EV) giant BYD reported a 19% fall in annual net profit for 2025 as it grappled with weak consumer spending and intense competition in its home market, while also facing challenges in its overseas expansion efforts.
BYD's net profit attributable to shareholders last year was 32.6 billion yuan ($4.7 billion), down from 40.3 billion yuan in 2024, the company announced in a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
China's Leading EV Player Faces Market Pressures
BYD has emerged as the dominant player in China's highly competitive EV market, which is the world's largest. However, the company has been impacted by a cutthroat domestic market that has pressured profitability, prompting BYD and other carmakers to increasingly look towards overseas markets.
The EV market is facing growing scrutiny, with a top industry group rebuking Chinese automakers last May for fueling a price war. This came a week after BYD announced substantial trade-in discounts.
"Competition in the NEV industry has reached a fever pitch, and is undergoing a brutal ‘knockout stage’," BYD's chairman Wang Chuanfu said in a statement, using an acronym for new energy vehicles.
Revenue Growth Stalls, Overseas Expansion Gains Traction
BYD recorded 804 billion yuan in revenue last year, marking a modest 3.5% increase compared to 2024. The company's annual revenue surpassed that of American rival Tesla in 2024, crossing the symbolic $100 billion mark at 777 billion yuan.
However, profit in the third quarter of 2025 slumped by 33% year-on-year, marking the company's second consecutive quarterly decline. The recent slowdown follows a period of sustained, intense growth, with BYD's profit in the first quarter of 2025 setting a record for the company in that reporting period.
BYD's overseas ambitions appear to be gaining momentum, with its vehicles now operating in ‘119 countries and regions worldwide,’ according to Friday's filing.
The company sold more than 13,000 units in European Union countries in September, representing a year-on-year increase of 272.1%, according to a report by the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association.