It Berkshire Hathaway is reducing its stake in Chinese electric car maker BYD to 6.9%. The conglomerate founded by entrepreneur Warren Buffett sold another 1.3 million BYD shares for $39.8 million, the Hong Kong stock exchange said in a statement. The sale lowered Berkshire’s shares to 6.9% from 7%.
Berkshire Hathaway. la scommessa su BYD:
The conglomerate first bought about 225 million shares of BYD in 2008 for about $230 million. The bet turned out to be extremely profitable because the market electric cars has seen explosive growth in China and elsewhere as well.
Berkshire later unloaded half of its stake through sales in 2022 and 2023 after BYD soared nearly 600% from its 2008 start in April 2022 to a record high. Hong Kong rules require a deposit only when the interest rate exceeds a whole number, so if Berkshire’s index. withholding falls below 6%, there will be another submission.
In 2010, Buffett said Munger, the late Berkshire vice chairman, “deserves 100% of the credit for BYD.” Munger was introduced to BYD by his friend Lee Lu, founder of Seattle-based asset manager Himalaya Capital.
BYD. Impact of EU tariffs
Was founded Wang Chuanfu, BYD began producing cell phone batteries in the 1990s. In 2003, the company moved into automobiles and has since become China’s leading automobile brand as well as a major manufacturer of electric vehicle batteries.
In the fourth quarter of 2023, BYD will dethrone Tesla as the world’s largest electric car maker, selling more battery-powered cars than its US rival.
the actions of BYD Listed in Hong Kong, it rose as much as 9% last week after European tariffs on electric vehicle imports from China fell short of market expectations. The European Commission has announced additional provisional tariffs of 17 to 38 percent on electric vehicle imports from China, on top of the existing 10 percent.
The announcement comes after a months-long investigation into China’s government subsidies to the industry and a month after US President Joe Biden imposed 100% tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles shipped.
Brussels hit BYD with an additional 17.4% of tariffs, the lowest of the three companies named by the Commission. BYD is among the Chinese companies best placed to handle the new tariffs, thanks to its investment in an electric car factory in Hungary, which allows it to produce cars there and earn high profit margins. The Chinese group harshly criticized the decision of the European Commission.
“We rely on technological innovation, not government subsidies,” the company said in a statement. “The (tariff) decision not only contradicts the principles and rules of the market economy international tradebut it could also adversely affect the stability of the global automotive supply chain and economic and trade cooperation between China and the EU.”