How to buy BYD shares in the UK

BYD is one of the biggest names in the electric vehicle (EV) industry right now. In 2024, the Chinese car manufacturer sold approximately 1.8 million EVs – roughly the same number as Tesla sold. Can you buy shares in BYD in the UK? Absolutely. Here’s how.

Who is BYD?

Founded in 1995, BYD is a Chinese multinational manufacturing company headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong. Its acronym, BYD, stands for ‘Build Your Dreams’.

While BYD is known for its EVs, the company is quite broad in nature. Today, it produces cars, electronics, new energy solutions, and rail transit solutions.

How to buy BYD shares

There are several ways to buy BYD shares  in the UK.

One way is to purchase the company’s Hong Kong-listed shares. These trade under ticker 01211.HK. Not many brokers in the UK offer access to these shares. Those that do include interactive investor and eToro.

A second way is to buy BYD’s US-listed ADR (American Depositary Receipt) shares. These trade under ticker BYDDY on the OTC Markets (OTCMKTS). Several brokers in the UK offer access to these shares. These include Hargreaves Lansdown, IG, and Saxo.

Is BYD stock worth buying?

BYD shares have quite a bit of potential, in my view.

For starters, the company is enjoying a lot of success on the automotive front. Last year, it sold a record 4.3 million vehicles globally when its hybrid vehicles are taken into account.

It’s worth noting here that the company recently launched a lower-priced car to rival Tesla’s Model 3. The Model 3 has long been the top selling EV in China.

Secondly, the company is developing some really powerful battery technology. Recently, it launched the Super e-Platform, which can charge an EV in around five minutes.

Additionally, its financials look strong. In 2024, revenue rose by 29% to 777 billion yuan (approx. $107 billion) – topping the $98 billion reported by Tesla.

What are the risks?

There are risks to be aware of, however.

In this industry, companies face a lot of competition. Today, BYD is up against Tesla, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and many other players.

Another risk is tariffs. In Europe, BYD now faces an additional 17% tariff on top of the existing 10% flat rate the EU imposed before its investigation into Chinese BEV imports.

It’s also worth pointing out that the automotive industry is cyclical. In a recession, consumers tend to hold back on large purchases like new cars.

BYD stock vs Tesla stock

Tesla and BYD Company- two giants in the world of Electric Vehicles, or EVs but from different sides of the Pacific ocean, You would think that this combination would make a great pairs trade allowing you to go long one and short the other,  to capture the zeitgeist and swings in the EV market, global trade tensions, consumer and political sentiment, all in one position.

BYD or Build Your Dreams was founded in 1995 by Wang Chuanfu, in Shenzhen, China, with just 20 employees, beginning as a rechargeable battery manufacturer. It made a pivot into automobiles in 2003.

Wang Chuanfu’s belief in sustainable transportation received a boost in 2008 when Warren Buffett invested $232 million for a 10% stake.

Under Wang’s leadership, BYD expanded into electric buses in 2009, and established a North American operation in 2011 . BYD has shown itself to be an innovator too, listing 2,337 new patents in China and 297 overseas, in 2021, for example .

BYD Company now sees itself as a clean energy company operating in the Electronics, Automobile, Renewable Energy, and Rail Transit sectors, with operations in China. the US, Canada , Brazil, France and Hungary.

BYD auto ceased to make anything other than electric vehicles in 2022 and unlike many of its peers it choose to focus on cost conscious pricing, without compromising on build quality

In 2024 BYD produced four million vehicles, up +41.30% from the prior year, 1.70 million of those were FEVs or Fully Electric Vehicles

Tesla was founded in July 2003 with its now (in) famous CEO Elon Musk investing in the company in 2004 and again in 2005 as a VC, before taking over as CEO in October 2008.

Production got under way in 2009 and in the same year Daimler AG bought a stake in the company of just less than 10.0%, for a reputed $50.00 million. An investment that Elon Musk has gone on record as saying saved the company.

A large portion of that stake would later be acquired by Abu Dhabi’s Aabar investments.

Today Tesla has a market cap of $1.150 trillion and delivered 1.79 million vehicles in 2024 slightly lower than the 1.81 million it delivered in 2023.

First quarter revenue at the business dipped to $19.33 billion in 2025 down by 9.0% from the year before and the firm employs just under 122,000 staff worldwide.

Share price performance

Year to date BYD have rallied by just under +50.00% whilst Tesla are down -11.24%.

So it would have been right to be long BYD and short Tesla during this period.

However if we extend that out to 12 months then the situation looks very different with both names up strongly and Tesla outperforming BYD by nigh on a quarter, up by +100.48% versus a +76.21% gain for BYD, according to data from Google Finance.

Source: Yahoo Finance

Share Price Correlation

Though you might expect BYD and Tesla to be closely correlated data from Macroaxis tells us that there is just +0.66, or 66% positive correlation between the pair.

That’s not high, nor is it negative both of which are characteristics you might look for in pairs trades.

The reason for this may lay in the fact that despite them being two of the biggest names in EV manufacturing , there is not actually that much crossover between them.

 BYD has until now been largely focused on the Chinese market.

Tesla of course is active in China, Deutsche Bank expects them to sell 39,000 EVs there in May. But the bank’s forecast for BYD’s sales for the month is up at 390,000.

That disparity also highlights another major difference between the two stocks.

Tesla is very much seen as a high end luxury brand, whilst BYD is more budget friendly, with its range starting at around £23,750 in the UK, and its high end saloon car coming in at £44,300.

Though it will shortly introduce a new compact EV priced at around £15,000.

By contrast Tesla’s cheapest model in the UK, the model three, starts at £39,990.

It turns out that Tesla is more closely correlated to the likes of Rivian Automotive (RIVN) and has a small negative correlation with another Chinese EV maker Xpeng (XPEV).

 Motor Vehicles & Passenger Car Bodies sector short-term performance

Source: Barchart.com

We can see Tesla’s performance versus its peers in the Motor Vehicles & Passenger Car Bodies sector in the table above.

The stocks are ranked by year-to-date percentage change, as of 29-05-2025. If you look closely you will note that one name is missing, BYD , which does not trade in the US.

And that highlights perhaps the biggest barrier to putting on a TSLA- BYD pairs trade are the logistics of it.

To trade the actual shares you would need to have an account with a broker that offers Hong Kong listed stocks to be able to trade BYD. And of course the broker would also need to offer US stocks. eToro offers BYD ADRs, so you can buy the American version of the HK Shares. However, there is also the small matter of the 12-hour time difference between Hong Kong and New York to contend with, so not great for very short term arbitrage.

You would also run currency risk between GBP USD and GBP HKD in the trade if you are a sterling based trader.

The thematic pairs trade between BYD and Tesla might look attractive but when you dig into it starts to look a lot less appealing and from logistical standpoint pairing Telsa with Xpeng or Rivian might be a better bet.