BYD: Jump-Starting Stalled Sales With Auto Finance 比亚迪：试水汽车金融

There’s an interesting bit of news coming from Warren Buffett-backed BYD (HKEx: 1211). It seems the Chinese carmaker, once a superstar but now struggling with stalling sales, has linked up with a US company that specializes in vehicle finance systems in an apparent move to jumpstart its growth by selling cars on credit to Chinese consumers. (English press release). This kind of move is clearly a gamble for BYD, which has plenty of experience making cars but little or none in vehicle finance, in a country where some 90 percent of people still pay for their cars with cash. But given Buffett’s strong background in finance, together with the facts that many analysts see strong growth ahead for vehicle financing in China and sharply slowing growth of the broader auto market, this one looks like a very worthwhile gamble for BYD and one that could help to put it back on the road to strong profit growth.

Bottom line: BYD’s move into vehicle finance looks like a smart one with good chances of success to jump-start its stalled growth.

一度举世瞩目的明星、近来却焦头烂额的比亚迪<1211.HK>，传出了新消息：它与一家专门开发汽车金融系统的美国公司合作，似乎有意通过向中国消费者提供信贷而刺激自己的汽车销量。这对比亚迪来说是一场豪赌：它造车经验丰富，搞汽车金融可丝毫不在行。在中国，九成的消费者还是现金全款购车。但比亚迪的”美国伯乐”巴菲特则是金融大师， 而且很多分析师对中国汽车金融业前景看好。在整体汽车市场大幅降温的情况下，比亚迪这一赌还是值得的，有希望让比亚迪重归高速增长的轨道。

一句话：比亚迪赌注汽车金融是聪明之举，有望重振增速。