BYD and CATL are the two giants of New Energy Vehicles(NEV) in China. As the two giants of the NEVs, what is the difference between them?
- The introduction of BYD and CATL
With the popularity of NEV, BYD’ s shipments and reputation continue to improve, and it can be called the biggest beneficiary of NEV.
BYD grew into the world’s second largest rechargeable battery manufacturer in 2003, and successfully produced lithium iron phosphate power batteries in 2005. It has a strong battery design and production capacity. The blade power battery designed by BYD has many advantages: high energy density per unit volume, low material cost and high safety grade.
CATL is a rising star, achieving the world’s first power lithium battery installed capacity in 7 years, and its power battery installed capacity has exceeded 50% of the national market share.
- A comparison between the two brands:
- In terms of market share
BYD’ s blade batteries have lost ground to CATL. On January 14, data released by the China Automotive Power Battery Industry Innovation Alliance showed that China’s power battery output reached 219.7GWh in 2021, making an increase of more than 163% over the previous year. Among them, CATL produced 80.51GWh of batteries, accounting for 52.1%, while BYD came in second with 16.2%.
In the early years, BYD batteries were not sold to the public, which resulted in poor word-of-mouth dissemination of BYD batteries. However, CATL gained market share in more than five countries as a result of China’s policy of increasing support for new energy vehicle manufacturers and industrial chains; on the other hand, the product line is abundant and the customers are steady.
Moreover, CATL has not only established cooperation with giants such as BMW, Tesla and FAW, but also expanded them to the electric bus field through new product development.
- In terms of business:
BYD has a wide range of business, including electronics, automobiles, new energy, and rail transportation. The company aims to achieve a zero-emission new energy total solution from energy acquisition, storage, to application. The 2020 statement revenue showed that BYD’s main businesses are automotive, cell phone components and assembly, and secondary batteries.
CATL is the world’s leading power battery system provider, focusing on the development, production and sales of NEV power battery system and energy storage system. According to the revenue of the 2020 annual report, the main business of CATL is power battery system, energy storage system and battery materials, which are closely related to batteries.
- From the perspective of profit margin:
CATL’s gross profit margin declined as a whole, but remained above 27%. After 2018, the net profit margin on sales could basically remain stable, showing good profitability.
BYD’s sales profit margin fluctuates to a certain extent. However, with the rapid growth of new energy vehicle business, its future profit can be expected.
The gross margin of CATL’s power battery business has always been higher than 25%, and that of Electric vehicle’s lithium-ion battery business has reached more than 20% since 2019, while BYD’s secondary battery business will also exceed 20% in 2020. With the expansion of blade battery supply business, BYD will form the second growth curve.
