I find this type of car way more attractive than the bigger ones.
This struck a chord too, it looks so similar to the Suzuki Swift (that the guy quotes in a video), which was my first car (and I loved it)
The $10k BYD Seagull EV is scaring the U.S. auto industry
101–110 of 119 posts
Re: The $10k BYD Seagull EV is scaring the U.S. auto industry
#102Earlier quoted context omitted.
Safety and other regulations still apply.
European safety and environmental standards are much higher than here.
higher sounds like a quality argument, which may be true. they are not stricter though, which is what they'd need to be to refute the parents point. take headlights, for example, where the us's requirements are significantly stricter than european ones.
Re: The $10k BYD Seagull EV is scaring the U.S. auto industry
#103Affordable small cars have never been a thing in the US, electric or not. There's zero reason to believe that this new batch will pose a threat.
The general cost of living is going to change that.
Re: The $10k BYD Seagull EV is scaring the U.S. auto industry
#104I hope so. The price of EVs in the US market is ludicrously overinflated. It's understandable for new startups like Rivian, Lucid and co, but in the case of existing auto manufacturers, early adopters are subsidizing the cost of redeveloping tooling that should have been easily covered by nearly a century of profit leeched away by shareholders. GM, Ford and Stellantis should have been able to produce a sub-$20k EV by…
Sub $20k is not realistic in 2024. Even barebones ICE cars without AC and with everything cheap plastic start higher and return no margin. The last car that was widely available below $20,000 was the manual, no-ac Honda civic from the widely panned post-housing bubble model generation. Mitsubishi also sold a widely panned barebones model, their Mirage, that sold poorly. Cheap cars with no margin is a suckers bet. The…
There are multiple sub $20k ICE cars with AC and general accoutrements available in 2024. EV cars should be even less expensive, or the same price with more margin for the manufacturer.
Please do not call things that currently exist unrealistic as hyperbole. It makes no sense.
Re: The $10k BYD Seagull EV is scaring the U.S. auto industry
#105Earlier quoted context omitted.
That car is small, light, has few moving parts, no luxury parts, and the most expensive part is dropping quickly in price. It clearly is below market cost, since it sets a new price record. But subsidized? What makes you think it's subsidized?
I’m guessing the Chinese government bears some of this cost, particularly R&D. Even the article mentioned the government subsidizing cost. Unless you don’t believe that.
The word subsidy is used to cover quite different things, At one end, people use the word "subsidy" about tax rules that apply to everyone, and at the other, things that I too consider to be subsidies.
Re: The $10k BYD Seagull EV is scaring the U.S. auto industry
#106Earlier quoted context omitted.
Chinese protectionism would also like a word. Remember these tariffs were originally setup between the US and China in 2006 to protect China's car market, not the USA's. See https://faculty.econ.ucdavis.edu/faculty/dswenson/ChinaCarPa... > Here, the bilateral agreement noted the expectation that by 2006 China’s import tariff on assembled cars was to be reduced from its pre WTO level of 80% or 100% to 25%, while the d…
I'm not saying anything about the Chinese protections merely the US protections.
The US and Chinese protections were negotiated at the same time in 2006: China wanted a 25% tariff for automobiles imported into China from the USA (down from 80-100%), the USA said, OK, but we will apply the same to your cars. That's why it was negotiated, if China offered no tariff, the USA would have jumped at that.
Almost all tariffs are reciprocated, that's just how this game works. It is only an accident in history that these tariffs now protect the USA rather than China.
Re: The $10k BYD Seagull EV is scaring the U.S. auto industry
#107Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Kia was written off when it first came to town. Hyundai/Kia were smart in that they introduced their cars with really long warranties to dispel quality concerns. However, they lost a lot of credibility recently with their cars being famous for being easy to steal via YouTube tutorials and tiktok challenges.
My point is that they managed a way into the market and held market share with considerable doubt against them.
It is just that if you said that maybe 5 years ago, it would sound stronger than today when they are currently losing credibility at a rapid clip.
Re: The $10k BYD Seagull EV is scaring the U.S. auto industry
#108Affordable small cars have never been a thing in the US, electric or not. There's zero reason to believe that this new batch will pose a threat.
On a forum that's funded entirely on the premise of small startups eating the lunch of big incumbents, this is a weird take.
Re: The $10k BYD Seagull EV is scaring the U.S. auto industry
#109Earlier quoted context omitted.
Should be safe to allow imports then, right? Since nobody but me would buy one. :-)
I am attempting to import the Seagull currently (experience the pain, see if and how to scale, how to avoid tariff mechanisms, etc), intend to report back with findings. https://www.cbp.gov/trade/basic-import-export/importing-car
Can you buy one in Mexico and keep driving in US for X time?
Re: The $10k BYD Seagull EV is scaring the U.S. auto industry
#110Affordable small cars have never been a thing in the US, electric or not. There's zero reason to believe that this new batch will pose a threat.
On a forum that's funded entirely on the premise of small startups eating the lunch of big incumbents, this is a weird take.
These are not small startups. They are China government funded enterprises.