Chinese auto manufacturer BYD's sales of new energy vehicles (NEVs) in 2020 slipped following Covid-19-related disruptions, particularly in the first quarter, along with fierce market competition.

BYD sold 189,689 units of NEVs last year, down by 17.4pc from 2019. Its NEV sales accounted for 44.4pc of the company's total vehicle sales of 426,972 units, while its 2020 production of power and energy storage batteries increased by 2pc from a year earlier to 12.598GWh.

China's NEV industry was hit by the Covid-19 outbreak in the 2020 first quarter. BYD only sold 2,803 NEVs in February 2020, down by 81pc from 14,429 a year earlier and by 61pc from 7,133 in January.

Fierce competition from foreign and Chinese domestic NEV producers also weighed on BYD's sales. US-based auto producer Tesla added 50,000 cars to the production capacity of its Shanghai factory in the third quarter of 2020. The price of its Model Y starts at 339,900 yuan($52,640), down by Yn148,100 from previously.

Domestic auto producers like Wuling, NIO, Xiaopeng and Lixiang also rapidly expanded their NEV market share.

But BYD's NEV sales last month were up by 120.2pc on a year earlier to 28,841 following the recovery of the auto sector. The market began to recover in the second quarter, supported by government stimulus measures to encourage the use and purchases of such vehicles. BYD's sales of pure electric and plug-in hybrids passenger vehicles in 2020 were 130,970 and 48,084 respectively, down by 11pc and 33.4pc from a year earlier.

The Chinese government has taken various measures to accelerate NEV adoption in the longer term. China's state council has announced a development plan for the NEV industry during 2021-35, targeting a 20pc share of NEVs in the country's total vehicles sales by 2035.

The central government also cut its subsidies for regular NEVs by 20pc against last year for 2021 in an attempt the make the sector more market driven than influenced by subsidies.