BYD (HKG:1211, SHE:002594) sold 440,293 new energy vehicles in August, a nearly 18% increase from a year earlier, as record exports offset a drop in domestic sales.

NEV exports during the month more than doubled to 189,466 units from 80,813 units a year earlier. However, domestic sales shrank to 250,827 units from 292,813 NEVs sold a year earlier.

Production volume for the month rose 25% to 440,703 units as the Chinese NEV manufacturer boosted output across its entire product lineup, according to a Hong Kong bourse filing late Tuesday.

Despite the August rebound, BYD's year-to-date figures remain in contraction territory, with NEV output falling 4.7% and NEV sales down 6.8%.

In contrast, BYD's commercial vehicle output and sales posted double-digit growth in the first eight months of the year.

The monthly figures follow BYD's interim results released last week, in which the company reported a 7% year-over-year drop in revenue to 344.8 billion yuan and a 20.5% slump in attributable profit to 12.3 billion yuan.

Citing data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), BYD at the time said it had consistently led China's NEV exports in the first half.

"The leapfrog growth of Chinese automotive exports was fundamentally driven by the in-depth cultivation of independent brands on the electrification and intelligentization, the robust foundation of a complete industrial chain, and continuous product iteration," BYD said in its first-half earnings report.

However, BYD acknowledged the sluggish demand and intensifying competition at home.

Looking ahead to the second half, BYD last week said it expects the transition to NEVs to further accelerate amid high international oil prices and the trend of energy conservation and emission reduction.