BYD says Chinese cars (EV & EREV) headed to U.S. in late 2015

[SteveG3]

just to be clear, the article in the first post of the thread from Rob describes the plug-in hybrid named the Qin. This is the car they are targeting for late 2015 entry to the U.S. market.

the e6 pure electric was the car that was to come to the U.S. in 2010. the article describes that car as postponed. that car has made it to the UK in taxis, so perhaps perhaps their are some reviews of its quality from drivers/passengers accustomed to the quality of cars BYD would be competing with in the U.S..

I found this part of the article, including remarks from BYD's Stella Li, the senior vice president in charge of the company's U.S. business, quite interesting

"Though BYD wasn't ready when it earlier sought to enter the U.S. car market in 2010, the company is more prepared this time, she said.
"Back then, we had passion, but we had no brand, no history, no capital and no competitive advantage," said Li, 43, who spoke at BYD's headquarters in Shenzhen in China's southern Guangdong province. "BYD has become more fashionable and we have improved our design and safety. We don't want to compete on price anymore, but on quality and innovation."

 

[qwk]

"Back then, we had passion, but we had no brand, no history, no capital and no competitive advantage," said Li, 43, who spoke at BYD's headquarters in Shenzhen in China's southern Guangdong province. "BYD has become more fashionable and we have improved our design and safety. We don't want to compete on price anymore, but on quality and innovation."

The problem with this statement is that BYD is far from a quality product, and they have little innovation compared to Tesla, so unless it's cheap, they are toast in the US market.

 

[SteveG3]

fwiw, I found it interesting as it suggests why the e6 hasn't arrived in the U.S.- an attempt to compete on cost that just was too low quality to have a chance here. as to where they are today, we'll find out. part of it for me is that they convinced Charlie Munger and Warren Buffett to put a lot of money into the company. it's no guarantee, but it keeps me interested in seeing what they end up turning out.

 

[RobStark]

Buffett got in really cheap $1/share for just under 10% of the company.

I wonder if Elon would be willing to sell BYD access to the Supercharger network at a reasonable price, say within double what they charge Tesla's own retail customers.

Interesting to note, Colombia has eliminated tariffs on electric vehicles.

BYD sold a fleet of e6 vehicles to be used as taxis in Bogota.

 

[qwk]

part of it for me is that they convinced Charlie Munger and Warren Buffett to put a lot of money into the company.

I don't think that Buffett made a good decision on BYD. Investing in Tesla at that time would have been a much wiser choice, because the potential is pretty much limited to capital for expansion. In other words, the more money Tesla has, the quicker they can become a dominant force in the auto-industry.

 

[SteveG3]

Buffett got in really cheap $1/share for just under 10% of the company.

I wonder if Elon would be willing to sell BYD access to the Supercharger network at a reasonable price, say within double what they charge Tesla's own retail customers.

Interesting to note, Colombia has eliminated tariffs on electric vehicles.

BYD sold a fleet of e6 vehicles to be used as taxis in Bogota.

Rob, I've seen that $1 figure at some point in an article, but I suspect that is the conversion to U.S. dollars, whereas the company is trading at 38 Hong Kong dollars. This makes sense as the company's lowest HK dollar price in 2008 was $8/share, and the you get about $8 HK for $1 U.S. (now and back in 2008).

 

[rjcbox]

It goes 43 miles in electric mode, then another 250+ miles using the onboard gasoline generator.

my bad, sounds like Volt competition then

 

[Grendal]

BYD launches 177 MPGe Qin hybrid in China

It's got some cool features according to the video. No trunk or very small one though.

 

[RDoc]

It will be interesting to see if they use dealerships or sell directly in the US if they do come here. My understanding of the resistance to Tesla selling directly was largely because the dealership organization are terrified of Chinese auto manufacturers doing the same thing.

 

[RobStark]

It will be interesting to see if they use dealerships or sell directly in the US if they do come here. My understanding of the resistance to Tesla selling directly was largely because the dealership organization are terrified of Chinese auto manufacturers doing the same thing.

They are afraid of dirt cheap Chinese cars direct to consumers on infomercials.

BYD Qin is $31.4 in China. Plus shipping to USA.