BYD Co. jumped to second place in global electric vehicle (EV) battery rankings in July, overtaking LG Energy Solution Ltd. as China’s demand for clean cars surges.

The Shenzhen-based car and battery maker supplied 6.4 gigawatt-hours of batteries in July, behind only Shenzhen-listed EV battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. (CATL) with 13.3 gigawatt-hours.

LG Energy slipped to third with 4.4 gigawatt-hours, followed by Japan’s Panasonic Holdings Corp. at 2.9 gigawatt-hours, according to data released by Seoul-based SNE Research yesterday.

Global battery sales rose to 39.7 gigawatt-hours in July, up 80% from a year earlier, the report showed.

The year-to-date market share rankings were unchanged, with CATL top with 34.7% of the market, followed by LG Energy at 14.2% and BYD third with 12.6%.

Demand for EVs continues to soar as high gasoline prices spur drivers to switch to hybrids and battery-powered cars, and automakers electrify their fleets.

Still, EV makers face challenges, with the U.K. and Germany slashing subsidies, the United States pushing to reduce reliance on Chinese minerals and components and surging materials prices pushing up the cost of batteries.

Another Chinese company, China Aviation Lithium Battery Co., or CALB, ranked sixth by sales in July, overtaking South Korea’s Samsung SDI Co.

Chinese firms led overall growth in the EV battery industry in July, while the total market share of South Korea’s three battery makers — LG, Samsung and SK — declined to 25.9% from 34.2% a year ago, SNE said.

Chinese battery makers appear to be sustaining their pricing power amid tight supply, while China’s battery usage is expected to almost double this year on surging sales of new-energy vehicles.

South Korean battery makers, meanwhile, need a new strategy to counter subsidies for EVs like new U.S. rules that favor American-made electric vehicles and batteries, and rising “skepticism” over EVs in Europe, SNE said.

In another development, BYD’s Hong Kong and Shenzhen-listed shares tumbled yesterday as investors offloaded more shares of the firm after a second filing showed Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. had further trimmed its stake in the company.

“We do expect Berkshire Hathaway to completely exit its position,” said Kelvin Lau, an analyst at Daiwa Capital Markets Hong Kong Ltd. “Even though we expect the fundamentals of the company to remain solid, we expect the stake sale from Berkshire Hathaway would impose near-term share-price pressure.”

Theories about Buffett’s plans for the bellwether Chinese electric car company have swirled since a 20.49% stake — identical to the size of Berkshire’s last reported BYD position in Hong Kong as of end-June — entered Hong Kong’s Central Clearing and Settlement System in July.

Berkshire has now disposed of about 18 million BYD shares and it still holds an 18.87% stake, or about 207 million shares, as of last Thursday, according to a Hong Kong stock exchange filing. (SD-Agencies)