*

Q3 net profit rises to 11.6 billion yuan

*

Revenue up 24% to 201.1 billion yuan

*

EV makers enjoy expanded old-for-new stimulus measures

(Adds revenue comparison with Tesla in paragraphs 3 and 4)

BEIJING, Oct 30 (Reuters) - Chinese electric vehicle

maker BYD posted an 11.5% rise in

third-quarter net profit on Wednesday as it maintained strong

sales momentum helped by government trade-in incentives.

Net profit rose to 11.6 billion yuan ($1.63 billion) in the

July-September quarter, the company said in a stock exchange

filing. For the first nine months, net profit was up 18.1% to

25.2 billion yuan.

With third-quarter revenue up 24% on year to 201.1 billion

yuan ($28.24 billion), BYD's quarterly revenue for the first

time outpaced Tesla, whose revenue for the

July-September quarter reached $25.2 billion.

Tesla still beat BYD in terms of EV sales globally during

July to September.

BYD, whose cars accounted for more than one-third of the

total sales of EVs and plug-in hybrids in China this year,

smashed monthly sales record in September and its quarterly

sales also scaled a fresh high in the third quarter.

The local champion and its peers such as Tesla have enjoyed

a tailwind from expanded old-for-new stimulus measures favouring

greener cars. Last month, China's car sales snapped a five-month

decline on the subsidy boost, industry data showed.

As of late October, 1.57 million applicants had registered

to take advantage of a national subsidy of up to more than

$2,800 apiece for trading-in older cars for greener vehicles,

official data showed.

Local governments in China have also been handing out up to

20,000 yuan as additional subsidies to EV buyers in schemes to

expire at year end.

BYD had led the growth with aggressive discounts on its

best-selling models. Its best quarter was primarily driven by

strong growth in plug-in hybrid sales, which jumped 75.6% on the

year to 685,830 units in the third quarter, thanks to its latest

generation of plug-in hybrid technologies that save more fuel

costs for users.

By comparison, BYD's sales growth of pure EVs (rather than

hybrids) slowed to 2.7% to 443,426 units in the quarter and it

has been losing share in the EV segment to other EV rivals in

China, according to Reuters calculations.

BYD, which still sells more than 90% of its cars in China,

set a higher annual sales target for this year, a Morgan Stanley

report showed in September, and aimed to double exports to

450,000 vehicles this year, a downward revision to the annual

overseas shipment goal of 500,000 set in March.

BYD, which has been leading a push into European markets

despite facing additional tariffs, sold 94,477 cars overseas in

the third quarter, up 32.6% from the year before.

($1 = 7.1222 Chinese yuan renminbi)