The Chinese electric car manufacturer BYD has significantly increased its profit in the past year, according to preliminary figures. The company expects net profit for 2023 to be between 29 billion yuan and 31 billion yuan ($4 billion – $4.3 billion), the company said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange on Monday. The profits represent an increase of 75% to 87%. The company said that growth abroad and strong cost control had provided a boost. Last year, BYD snatched the top spot in China from the former market leader, the Volkswagen brand, with high discounts on its electric cars. I…