SHENZHEN -- China's leading new energy vehicle (NEV) manufacturer BYD Tuesday said its NEV sales declined 7.39 percent year-on-year to 229,506 units in 2019.

In a filing to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, BYD said in the passenger-vehicle sector, sales of purely electric vehicles surged about 42.5 percent year-on-year to 147,185 units while sales of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles plunged 41.8 percent to 72,168 units.

Meanwhile, its commercial NEV sales fell by 50.9 percent to 10,153 units in 2019.

BYD projected in October that its net profit for the whole of 2019 would decrease by 36 percent to 43 percent to between 1.58 billion yuan ($227 million) and 1.77 billion yuan.

NEV sales in the fourth quarter are expected to miss forecasts amid weak automobile demand, scaled-back subsidies and fiercer competition from gasoline-powered vehicles, BYD said at the time.