BYD, the world’s largest electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer, is facing growing challenges from an intensifying price war and a change in supplier payment regulations in China, raising market concerns about the company’s financial stability.
On May 23, the Shenzhen-based EV maker initiated a price war in China by offering discounts of 10 to 30%. It priced some affordable models under 150,000 yuan (US$20,890), and the Xia MPV (multi-purpose vehicle) at around 200,000 yuan. It also offers its Ocean range’s Seagull at a starting price of 55,800 yuan, down from the official guide price of 69,800 yuan.
BYD’s Hong Kong-listed shares have fallen by 15.5% from their peak of HK$155 (US$19.7) on May 23. The company’s market cap has decreased by some US$22 billion over the period.
BYD executive vice president Stella Li told Bloomberg in an interview on June 12 that the “very extreme, tough competition” in the Chinese EV market is unsustainable.
Li did not say whether BYD would scale back its discount program, but she stated that the company will invest up to $20 billion to expand its operations in Europe over the next few years. She highlighted Germany, the United Kingdom and Italy as BYD’s key European markets.
“If we decide to do something, we put all our resources behind it,” she said, referring to the company’s commitment to after-sales service in Europe. “We want to ensure it’s successful in the long run.”
Last October, the European Union imposed tariffs ranging from 17% to 35.3% on Chinese EVs (BYD: 17%, Geely: 18.8%, SAIC and others: 35.3%). China suggested setting minimum prices for the EVs it ships to the EU. Both sides are still negotiating the matter.
In March, BYD said it is considering setting up its third European assembly plant in Germany. It has a factory in Hungary and is building another in Turkey.
The Everagrande moment
When BYD announced its price cuts on May 23, one of its rivals warned of a possible Evergrande-like debt crisis in China’s auto sector on the same day. (Evergrande is China’s highly indebted property company that has come to epitomise the sector’s ongoing crisis.)
“An Evergrande of the auto industry already exists, though it has yet to explode,” Wei Jianjun, chairman of Great Wall Motors, said in an interview without naming any company.
“The current automobile industry is facing a serious problem of being coerced by capital,” Wei said. “Some automakers are addicted to burning money for market share.”
He said some Chinese automakers over-rely on financing from the capital market to boost production scale and market share, but ignore their profitability and technological innovation.
He said these firms’ capital chains will break if the market environment changes. He stated that the bankruptcy of any large auto firm would result in many people losing their jobs, harm upstream and downstream companies, and negatively impact the Chinese economy.
Li Yunfei, general manager of BYD’s brand and public relations division, responded to Wei’s comments in a Weibo post on May 30.
“Following the stunning comments made by Great Wall Motors’ Wei, many articles and videos said BYD is an Evergrande in the auto sector,” Li said. “I feel confused and angry, and find these comments laughable.”
“If BYD’s debt-to-asset ratio (70%) is a sign of high risk, are Ford (84%), General Motors (76%), and Geely (68%) all at risk?” he said.
He said many malicious commentators ignored that BYD’s interest-bearing debts and accounts payable are lower than many other players. He added that Chinese EVs have become mainstream products overseas and will continue to see good prospects.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said on May 31 that automakers should avoid disorderly price wars and maintain fair competition.
The People’s Daily commented that consumers would not benefit from price wars, which would drive automakers to use low-quality parts, reduce after-sales service and cut research and development expenses. Citing industry data, the newspaper reported that the average net margin of Chinese automakers fell to 4.3% in 2024, down from 5% in 2023.
New regulations
For 2024, BYD’s net profit rose 34% to 40.3 billion yuan, while revenue grew 29% to 777.1 billion yuan.
At the end of 2024, the company’s total debt rose 10.3% to 584 billion yuan, and its total assets increased 15.3% to 783 billion yuan. Its debt-to-asset ratio, or debt ratio, fell 3.2 percentage points to 74.64%.
For the same period, Nio, a Shanghai-based EV maker, had a debt ratio of 87.45%, and Great Wall Motors’ was 65.96%. Heavily indebted Chinese property developers have around 60-90% debt ratios.
However, accounting consultancy GMT Research said in January that BYD’s net debt might be 323 billion yuan as of mid-2024, contrasting with the official figure of 27.7 billion yuan.
It stated that the company’s Dilink platform, a supply chain financing system, may conceal a substantial amount of off-balance sheet debt. In other words, BYD may have delayed supplier payments.
Wang Guo-chen, an assistant researcher at Taiwan’s Chung-hua Institute for Economic Research (CIER), said BYD is only one of the many Chinese firms struggling to survive in an oversupplied market.
On March 25, China’s State Council amended the Regulation on Ensuring Payments to Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, requiring companies to pay their suppliers within 60 days, effective June 1.
BYD said on June 11 that it will standardize its payment period for suppliers to 60 days. Observers said automakers may thus report higher debt ratios in the second half.
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