Chinese automaker BYD Co Ltd, backed by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc, said on Monday that it is anticipating a twofold increase of new energy vehicles sales to 120,000 units by the end of this year.

During a stock exchange filing, BYD said it is expecting an increase of between 83 percent and 91 percent in its net profit during the first nine months of the year, between 3.6 billion yuan ($539.8 million) and 3.7 billion yuan ($553.7 million).

Like Us on Facebook

Boosted by government incentives for green vehicles, BYD posted a 384 percent sales growth to 2.26 billion yuan ($338.38 million) in the first six months that ended on June 30, The Star reported.

Meanwhile, sales of new energy vehicles also jumped by 161 percent to 15.23 billion yuan ($2.28 billion), boosting the company's overall turnover to 43.7 billion yuan ($6.54 billion) in the first six months, up by 43.74 percent compared with 2015.

BYD has posted successive quarters of triple-digit growth since the third quarter of last year, thanks to the government's favorable grants and subsidies.

However, the scaling down of such benefits, such as China's plan to gradually cut down these subsidies and stop providing financial assistance after 2020, is anticipated to restrain the strong growth momentum, the South China Morning Post reported. For instance, Shanghai, which has already reduced its subsidies, has seen shrinking sales of energy vehicles.

BYD chairman Wang Chang-fu said that the company would create new models and expand advertising spending to counter the effect of reduced subsidies.

TagsBYD, Warren Buffett, berkshire hathaway, car industry, car market