Well, Well, Well -- BYD Co. Is Mortal After All

Sun, Sep 7, 2025, 6:09 PM 4 min read

• BYD's sales have stagnated in its key home market, China.

• The company is thriving with its overseas expansion.

• BYD has competitive advantages that should enable it to succeed long-term.

• 10 stocks we like better than BYD Company ›

BYD Company (OTC: BYDDY) is a juggernaut.

The Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker, once known as a battery producer, quickly evolved into a full EV maker and began taking over the entire Chinese market with its highly advanced and aggressively priced EVs. But then BYD stepped out of its home market and started taking over the globe, too.

In 2024 it overtook Tesla in global EV sales, signaling that it was not only here to stay but here to take over. BYD is still an intriguing investment for many, especially as it still has yet to enter the U.S. market. But some recent data suggests that the juggernaut islosing steam.

BYD's total deliveries totaled 373,626 during August, essentially flat growth from one year ago. That makes two straight months that the Chinese EV maker's sales have stagnated due to intensifying competition from a slew of aggressive Chinese automakers. The domestic market is so intensely competitive that China has enormous overproduction capacity and a brutal price war that's eroding margins across the industry.

Here's another way to look at how brutal the domestic competition is. BYD's overseas sales spiked 146% year over year to 80,464 vehicles during August. Meanwhile, its deliveries in China declined for the fourth straight month.

If you thought that was the bad news, there's a little bit more. Not only is BYD stagnating in China at the moment, but one of its primary competitors is thriving. Geely Automobile Holdings Limited (OTC: GELYY) saw its global deliveries in August jump 38% to a monthly high of 250,167 vehicles. That total was driven by an extremely strong performance in China, where the numbers increased 58% to 214,090 during August, while its overseas deliveries dropped 22% to 36,077 -- basically the opposite of BYD last month.

Despite its current struggles in a difficult domestic market, the silver lining is that the globe is BYD's future; it's thriving internationally. But how does it accomplish this, and will it continue?

BYD's international footprint revolves around three core concepts: controlling its supply chain, localizing production, and adapting brands to different international markets. What separates BYD from the competition is that it doesn't just produce its vehicles, it makes almost all the parts in-house. It designs and manufactures batteries, semiconductors, and more; you name it and it's likely covered in the company's impressive vertical integration. That gives BYD an edge in speed, production, and cost, and it's part of why the company is what it is today.