Haikou , Hainan , China

Mar 29, 2018 12:01 AM

ichphotos309983 (RM)

Imagine China/Newscom

4770 x 3192 Color JPEG

China , Chinese, BYD, automobile, car

No Model Release, No Property Release

--FILE--View of a logo of BYD during an automobile exhibition in Haikou city, south China's Hainan province, 3 November 2017. BYD Co, backed by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc, warned subsidy cuts for new-energy vehicles (NEVs) in China could slash its quarterly profit by as much as 90 percent, driving its shares down almost 10 percent. The squeeze on BYD's profits underscores the challenge carmakers are facing in the world's largest auto market, which is moving toward pure electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles with strict quotas set to come into effect in 2019. BYD has invested heavily in battery electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles amid this government's push. "(As we are) affected by the reduction in new-energy vehicles subsidies, the profitability of the business, especially for electric buses, has declined substantially so as to bring great pressure to the group's overall profit," BYD said. The company estimated its first-quarter net profit slumped 75.2 percent to 91.8 percent from a year earlier due to the subsidy cuts.