2 Reasons Why Warren Buffett-Backed EV Maker BYD Shares Surged Today By Investing.com

Shares of BYD (OTC:), a China-based company backed by Warren Buffett, closed 3.6% higher today in Hong Kong trading.

First, the company announced it has stopped manufacturing combustion engine vehicles as of March and will now focus on producing all-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles.

“In the future, BYD will focus on pure electric and plug-in hybrids in the automobile sector,” BYD said in a statement filed to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Sunday.

China’s largest electric vehicle (EV) maker will not entirely stop producing gasoline engines as it plans to use smaller variations of the engine in its plug-in hybrid vehicles. The decision comes after the Chinese government committed to increasing green energy consumption and reducing carbon emissions.

BYD is one of the six global automakers including Volvo, GM, Mercedes, Ford, and Jaguar Land Rover that pledged to completely stop making engine vehicles by 2040.

Secondly, BYD reported 104,878 sales of its new energy vehicles (NEV) in March, marking a significant jump from 24,218 in the year-ago period and its record number of monthly sales.

March sales included 53,664 pure EV and 50,674 plug-in hybrid cars as well as 540 commercial NEV cars.

Moreover, the company added that it will continue providing services and spare part supplies to existing customers who bought combustion engine vehicles.

By Senad Karaahmetovic