BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker BYD Corp reported a 32.8% rise in second-quarter net profit on Wednesday, its fastest growth since late 2023, despite price cuts on its best-selling models.

Net profit reached 9.1 billion yuan ($1.4 billion) in the April-June quarter, while revenue rose 25.9 percent from a year earlier to 176.2 billion yuan, the company said in a stock exchange filing.

For the first half of the year, net profit jumped 24.4 percent to 13.6 billion yuan.

By leveraging its vertical integration strategy using key components such as company-made batteries, BYD has taken a significant lead in the electric and plug-in hybrid vehicle sector.

The manufacturer outsold the combined sales of Volkswagen’s two joint ventures in China by 14.5 percent in the first seven months.

BYD is on track to dethrone Tesla as the top seller of electric vehicles this year, with a 17.7% share of the global market, compared to Tesla’s 17.2%, according to estimates from Counterpoint Research.

BYD has offered steep discounts for its best-selling Dynasty and Ocean series EVs to consolidate its position.

The group has also strengthened its international presence, particularly in Europe and Mexico, where it plans to set up factories.

The company, however, faces additional customs duties of 17% for exporting EVs from China to European Union countries.

Overseas deliveries accounted for 11.9 percent of BYD’s total car sales in the first seven months of the year, nearly double the same period last year, according to Reuters calculations based on BYD’s monthly data.

(Reporting by Qiaoyi Li, Zhang Yan and Kevin Krolicki; Editing by Kate Entringer; Editing by David Goodman and David Holmes; Editing by David Goodman and David Holmes)

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