However, a bruising China-US trade war and tensions between Beijing and other Western capitals threaten to cast a shadow over the company’s global ambitions.

The company expects net profit to hit between ¥8.5 billion (US$1.2 billion) and ¥10 billion, up from ¥4.6 billion in the same period last year.

That would represent year-on-year growth of between 86% and 119%.

“The company achieved record new energy vehicle (NEV) sales for the Q1,” the Shenzhen-based firm said in a Hong Kong Stock Exchange filing.

BYD last week announced that sales in January-March topped 1 million vehicles for the first time, with a 39% increase in sales of pure electric passenger vehicles to 416,388.

The firm – which adopts the English slogan “Build Your Dreams” – has enjoyed a giddy few months of surging sales after annual revenue surged to ¥777.1 billion in 2024, eclipsing rival US titan Tesla.

Announcing the preliminary results today, BYD said it had also “experienced substantial growth in international NEV sales”.

However, Donald Trump’s tariff blitz could impact the firm.

The US president has imposed 25% tariffs on imports of all cars as well as sky-high blanket levies on Chinese goods.

That comes on top of existing measures by predecessor Joe Biden that effectively bars the use of Chinese technology in smart cars.

Meanwhile, the EU is reportedly investigating whether the Chinese government provided unfair subsidies for BYD’s first European factory, in Hungary, where electric car production is scheduled to start later this year.