China's car giant Byd drives profits as sales climb

Robust financial performance will help as the company navigates another period of discounting in the world’s biggest car market

Byd has maintained its lead over Volkswagen in China 

China’s biggest-selling car brand withstood a raging price war that engulfed the country this year, with Byd posting second-quarter profit that surged 145% and sending its shares climbing.

Net income more than doubled to 6.8bn yuan (€863m) after the company sold a record number of plug-in hybrid and fully electric vehicles during the three months ended in June. While fierce competition in China led to the slowest revenue growth in more than a year, Byd still generated 140bn yuan (€17.8bn) in quarterly sales. The company’s Hong Kong-listed shares climbed as much as 6.5%.