HONG KONGSHANGHAI, March 29 Reuters Chinese electric vehicle EV giant BYD said on Wednesday it was large enough to shake off the impact of a bruising price war and faltering demand in China, after reporting an 11fold increase in fourthquarter profit.

The strong result came as it extended its lead in the Chinese market, thanks to an expanding range of products that is helping it overtake Volkswagen to become the topselling brand.

BYD39;s large scale would help it maintain strong profit margins despite a price war and the end of EV subsidies, Chairman Wang Chuanfu told reporters in Hong Kong on Wednesday, referring to developments that occurred after the end of the fourth quarter.

The company posted on Tuesday a quarterly profit for OctoberDecember of 7.3 billion yuan 1.06 billion, up from 602 million yuan a year earlier.

The gross profit margin for automobiles and related products, which accounted for 77 of BYD39;s revenue in 2022, increased to 20.4, well above the 3.7 margin in 2021.

More than 40 auto brands, including BYD, followed Tesla39;s Jan. 6 move to cut prices to defend market shares amid weakening demand.

But BYD is among the few winning market share. Bolstered by its Dynasty and Ocean series of plugin hybrids and pure electric cars, BYD took overtook Volkswagen in February for the second month in four.

BYD accounted for 41 of socalled new energy car sales in the world39;s biggest auto market for the first two months of the year. Tesla, by contrast, had an…