Shanghai (ZXZC)- Chinese automaker BYD reported a 15.19% year-on-year drop in Oct. sales as its NEV sales were more than halved over a year ago.

Last month, the automaker sold 41,130 vehicles in total. The double-digit decrease was entirely attributed to the plunge in NEV sales. With 12,567 units sold, BYD's NEV sector suffered a year-over-year slump of 54.58%, which completely offset the positive contribution from the oil-fueled vehicle business.

The sales volume of the so-called new energy PVs tumbled 53.8% from a year earlier with both BEV and PHEV sales showing decrease of over 40%. The new energy CV sales also represented a steep decline.

Up until now, BYD has been seeing year-on-year shrink in NEV sales for four consecutive months. However, the year-to-date sales still jumped 19.93% thanks to the vigorous growth for months before July.

BYD said via its WeChat account the Oct. sales of “e” series totaled 2,771 units, of which the hottest-selling one was the BYD e2, whose sales climbed 3.5% month on month to 2,151 units. The sales of the EV-focused vehicle lineup are expected to be further boosted after the e3 hit the market in late October.

The sales volume of oil-fueled vehicles surged 37.12% over the previous year, while the growth in Jan.-Oct. number still remained negative.

Reviewing the monthly sales of previous days, you will find that the automaker's NEV and fuel-burning vehicle sales showed opposite trends in terms of growth. Before July, NEV sales kept rising, while the fuel-powered vehicle business was mired in downturn. However, the NEV sales started to display decrease since July due to the implementation of the new NEV subsidy policy, whereas fuel-burning vehicle sector began to post smaller drop, and then achieved increase in September.

As for the monthly performance of specific products, the sales volume of the Tang, Song and Qin families amounted to 5,766 units, 22,803 units and 3,761 units, growing 10.2%, 4.6% and 74.93% compared with September. Besides, 3,072 vehicles from the Yuan family were sold last month, said BYD (photo source: BYD's WeChat account).