BYD, the Chinese auto giant backed by Warren Buffett, sold 19,881 new energy vehicles in September, up 45.32 percent from 13,681 in the same month last year, the company's statement on the Hong Kong stock exchange showed today.

Sales of pure-electric passenger cars were 12,212 units, up 66 percent from 7,359 units a year earlier. Sales of plug-in hybrids were 6,391 units, up 12 percent from 5,689 units a year earlier.

BYD's September commercial vehicle sales were 1,278 units, up 102 percent from 633 units in the same month last year.

The company sold 22,302 fuel vehicles in September, down 17 percent from 27,048 in the same month last year.

From January to September, BYD sold a total of 42,183 vehicles, up 3.6 percent from 40,729 vehicles sold in the same period last year.

BYD's total sales of new energy vehicles from January to September were 110,941, down 42.4 percent from 192,620 in the same period last year.

BYD announced the launch of its flagship new energy sedan, the Han, on July 12, with three Han EV models and one Han Han DM (Dual-mode) model.

After subsidies, the three Han EVs are priced at 229,800 yuan, 255,800 yuan, and 279,500 yuan respectively. The Han DM is priced at 219,800 yuan.

The Han EV is equipped with BYD's Blade Battery, which was officially launched in March. The NEDC driving range is 605 km.

With a 0-100km acceleration time of 3.9 seconds, the Han EV is the fastest mass-produced new energy sedan in China.

Late last month, BYD said that after the Han model went on sale on July 12, there were a large number of customers waiting in line to pick up their cars. Currently, the number of Han models delivered is still not enough to meet the demand of existing and new customers for existing cars.

BYD also said it is making every effort to increase the production capacity of the Han models and speed up deliveries while maintaining product quality.

BYD will launch a "Han Order Points Compensation Plan" to compensate for this.

The BYD Han EV sold 1,205 units in its first month on the market, and its sales directly doubled to 2,400 units in August.