As someone who works in the North American auto industry, I understand my job is currently artificially protected by the 100% tariffs the USA has put on Chinese automobiles that have been in place long before the current POTUS.
As a consumer, however, I would really love to be able to actually afford a new car.
If competition inside China is currently driving prices ridiculously low, just think what could be had on both sides of the Pacific if there were lots of BYD’s here? Even if my cushy gig could be lost in the short term, in the long term we’d all benefit.
BYD is looking at opening factories in europe and USA but let’s be real they’ll never be as cheap as they are in China if they’re made locally.
@CriticalResist8@lemmygrad.ml does the EU have similar tariffs, is that why they’d want to make them there rather than just import them? I thought maybe it would be shipping costs for items as big as cars, but I figured shipping from China is not going to more expensive than from Japan. They are already shipping from Japan and I’m certain China is more efficient about it.
Cars are in a category of their own and importing one (for private use) can add up to 60% or more of the purchase price. We also sided with the US when it came to Huawei so I’m not holding my breath that the EU would even consider a Chinese-import car legal to drive. This website also says Chinese imports specifically face a 27% tariff rate in the EU, but that’s probably after all the other import duties. So an 18000 USD BYD car would cost approximately 35000 USD if one were to import it for their own use. And of course you can’t lease on taxes, you have to pay out of pocket. For example we are already targeting specifically Chinese solar panels with import duties and tariffs to artificially make them more expensive than locally-made ones.
Despite this BYD is building a factory in Hungary and another in Turkey, after they hit hurdles with the Hungary factory (I’m not sure if these were bureaucratic or environmental).
Why would that make them want to slow down production?
especially since Hungary is a full EU member state and Turkey is not [yet].
Regardless 27% is a lot better than the 100% that the U.S. implemented under Biden, and that’s ontop of the latest Trump tariffs. I haven’t heard, but I would be surprised if the POTUS hasn’t increased Biden’s too just because he doesn’t want any Democrat’s name on anything.
35 is about what a Tesla can run you these days, so it’s not crazy uncompetitive, but there are cars like Chevy Bolts which have had an average sale of 26 recently. Though a bolt is supposed to be the bottom of the bottom in terms of price but also specs for an EV.
@CriticalResist8@lemmygrad.ml you are talking like just one dude importing his own or a local company importing to sell to the public?
This is for private import, so one person importing their own car, but I think the rules are mostly the same for dealerships. I did find some cheap BYDs on local websites but I’m not sure if they actually have the car in their possession yet.