TD Cowen Calls Auto Stock Selloff on Chinese EV Fears 'Overdone' Ahead of Trump-Xi Talks

BYD's overseas business has overtaken its home market, generating roughly 53% of total revenue in the first half of 2026 even as the company's overall results declined. Revenue fell 7.1% year over year to RMB 344.8 billion, and net profit attributable to shareholders dropped 20.5% to RMB 12.3 billion, as brutal price competition squeezed China's EV market. Overseas revenue reached RMB 181.3 billion in the first half, up about 34% year over year, and first-half margin improved to 18.85% from 18.01%, driven largely by the overseas vehicle business, which Reuters reported carried a margin of 22%. The monthly sales data sharpened the trend: in August, BYD sold 440,293 new-energy vehicles globally, up 17.8% from a year earlier, with overseas sales jumping 134.6% to 188,746 vehicles while domestic sales fell 14.3%. The shift marks a change in the investment story for the world's largest new-energy vehicle maker, which has largely been a China play over its history.

BMW CEO Milan Nedeljkovic said he backs voluntary pricing agreements rather than tariffs to address the threat of low-cost Chinese car imports to European industry, in an interview with the newspaper FAZ published on Tuesday. "Some Chinese cars are being offered here at prices that are not comprehensible from a business perspective," Nedeljkovic said, adding that this risked fuelling protectionist tendencies in Europe. The European Union is assessing measures to address what Commission President Ursula von der Leyen calls an "unsustainable" trade deficit with China, while some European auto executives and politicians have called for local content rules and expanded tariffs to include plug-in hybrids from China. Nedeljkovic called for political dialogue with China aimed at reaching a common understanding of market-based pricing, followed by concrete measures, saying "Additional tariffs would constitute an even greater intervention, which is why I support voluntary agreements based on fair conditions," and adding, "Nobody is interested in an escalation." BMW has repeatedly criticised current EU duties on Chinese EV imports and warned that such measures risk a trade conflict; the company makes its all-electric Mini in China for export.