Shanghai (ZXZC)- In February, BYD sold only 5,501 new vehicles, encountering a sharp year-on-year decrease of 79.05% during the most critical period of coronavirus fight.

NEV sales tumbled 80.57% from a year ago to 2,803 units, for the eighth month in a row showing downturn. Oil-fueled vehicle unit was destined to face slide because of the epidemic, ending the five-consecutive-month year-over-year rising momentum.

For the first two months, BYD saw its new vehicle sales plummet 56.65% to 30,674 units. The company posted a 42.68% decline in Jan. sales, while the blame should be mainly laid on the Spring Festival holiday even though the epidemic erupted in the same month.

Despite the unpleasant paper number, BYD was praised for what it has done to combat against the epidemic. Shortly after the outbreak, the company announced a cash donation worth RMB10 million to Hubei Charity Federation for epidemic containment, and afterwards sourced RMB1 million worth of N95 masks to support the fight and protect drivers, passengers, volunteers and airport crew.

Besides, BYD also joined the string of automakers which shift gears to produce medical supplies. On Feb. 8, it said its self-made facial masks and disinfectants were set to roll off the production line around Feb. 17, and the daily capacity could reach 5 million units and 50,000 bottles by the end of Feb.

To date, the BYD branded masks have been handed over to the frontline fighters. According to a post on the official WeChat account, BYD has donated 150,000 units of homegrown masks to Wuwei, Anhui province and 50,000 units to Shenzhen Municipal Public Security Bureau.

With the business shutdown being gradually defrosted nationwide, BYD has seen the 100,000th Yuan EV roll off the assembly line. As to new product, the long-anticipated Han, a fire-new member for BYD's “Dynasty” matrix, is expected to go on sale in the third quarter, Zhang Changjiang, president of BYD sales company revealed via his Sina Weibo account. It may be delayed due to the virus, but not denied (photo source: BYD's WeChat account).