(JW Insights) Jul 18 -- Chinese EV manufacturer BYD expects its profit to have as much as tripled in the first half of the year, mainly due to strong new energy vehicle sales, reported Yicai Global on July 17.

Net profit likely soared 192 percent to 225 percent to between RMB10.5 billion and RMB11.7 billion ($1.5 billion and $1.6 billion) in the six months ended June 30 from a year earlier, the Shenzhen-based company announced on July 14.

BYD attributed the gain to a rising share of sales to major clients, growth in its emerging businesses such as NEVs and new smart products, higher capacity use, further improvements at the structure of its smartphone component and assembly business, without giving details.

BYD sold 253,000 cars last month, up 88 percent from a year earlier, the company said. In the first half, sales reached 1.3 million, up more than 94 percent from the same period last year. Overseas sales rose 96 percent to 74,300.

The company had a 10.6 percent share of China’s auto market and 33.5 percent of NEV market in the country in the first six months of the year, according to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

Vice President Lian Yubo will step down to become BYD’s new chief scientist, it said in the same statement. At the same time, Lian will continue to hold the positions of chief auto engineer and head of BYD’s auto engineering research center, focusing on NEV technology development, according to the Yicai Global report.

(Gao J/Yuan XY)