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Electric vehicle sales are booming in South America – without Tesla

reuters.com

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Re: Electric vehicle sales are booming in South America – without Tesla

#61

Post by jeltz »

juujian wrote: post #2

Not just Tesla, all established brands we know are left behind. I never understood Volkswagen's pivot from 'wait and See's to 'were inversing billions' to 'we were too late, abort'. Largest brands n terms of units, completely left behind in an emerging segment that's already dominating it's largest market (China). So many executives in the industry just didn't see the writing on the wall. I don't what GM was thinking…

WV seems to do amazingly in Europe so not sure what you are talking about. It is Tesla thaumt seems to be leaving the EV market with no new exciting models and making the European market hate the brand.

https://www.best-selling-cars.com/electric/2025-half-year-eu...

Re: Electric vehicle sales are booming in South America – without Tesla

#62

Post by surgical_fire »

jasonsb wrote: post #51

Tariffs might keep Chinese EVs out of the US, but they don't stop US influence from fading everywhere else. South America is voting with their wallets, and 'buy American' doesn't work when the price is double and the tech is the same. Unless the US intends to sanction every country that prioritizes value over US geopolitics, this battle is already lost.

In South America there's also no anxiety over China becoming a superpower, which may be an argument against Chinese products in the US.

In fact, China has pretty good relations with most South American countries. Likely better than the US. I wouldn't be surprised if many people view China more favorably.

Re: Electric vehicle sales are booming in South America – without Tesla

#63

Post by EliteGadget »

SilverElfin wrote: post #9

In Europe didn’t basically all brands take a hit? It was framed as Tesla falling behind but it’s more that Chinese EVs are so cheap, nothing can compete. Even within China the competition is insane, with over 100 car companies fighting to survive and giving out big discounts.

It isn't just Chinese EVs there are Korean brands on the road e.g. Jaewoo.

https://jaecoo.co.uk/

I'm in the UK and the only new Fords I see are these huge F250/F350 which make my 4x4 (which is relatively small compared to a modern 4x4) look tiny.

Re: Electric vehicle sales are booming in South America – without Tesla

#64

Post by eptcyka »

Animats wrote: post #14
juujian wrote: post #2

Not just Tesla, all established brands we know are left behind. I never understood Volkswagen's pivot from 'wait and See's to 'were inversing billions' to 'we were too late, abort'. Largest brands n terms of units, completely left behind in an emerging segment that's already dominating it's largest market (China). So many executives in the industry just didn't see the writing on the wall. I don't what GM was thinking…

Although Ford's CEO now gets it, Ford's product line doesn't reflect it yet. Farley has been bringing a few sample BYD cars to the US, for Ford people to drive around and to take apart. Farley dragged his executive team to China to see a BYD plant. They came back scared. But what Ford actually sells is 1) an F-150 converted to electric, 2) a Ford Mustang converted to electric, and 3) a Ford Transit converted to elect…

The lightning isn’t selling, almost at all.

Re: Electric vehicle sales are booming in South America – without Tesla

#65

Post by lawn »

SilverElfin wrote: post #9

In Europe didn’t basically all brands take a hit? It was framed as Tesla falling behind but it’s more that Chinese EVs are so cheap, nothing can compete. Even within China the competition is insane, with over 100 car companies fighting to survive and giving out big discounts.

Volkswagen is doing very well in Europe.

Re: Electric vehicle sales are booming in South America – without Tesla

#66

Post by darth_avocado »

Marsymars wrote: post #49
darth_avocado wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ford is a bad example because they’ve pretty much abandoned all their non truck and transit van segments for years. Even if EVs weren’t a thing, they do not compete in any of the segments and haven’t for almost a decade. First it was Japanese and German companies eating their lunch, now it’s the Chinese. Also, F150 lightening is such a failure. There was a recent video of it trying to haul very minimal load and it pr…

> Also, F150 lightening is such a failure. There was a recent video of it trying to haul very minimal load and it pretty much drained the battery in less than 100 miles. Was that due to something specific with the Lightning, or was it just due to the intrinsic energy requirements of hauling loads? (Or in other words, does an EV even exist that's notably better at hauling loads?)

Probably both. It was a consumer review, so hard to say from an engineering perspective.

Re: Electric vehicle sales are booming in South America – without Tesla

#67

Post by jasonsb »

surgical_fire wrote: post #62
jasonsb wrote: post #51

Tariffs might keep Chinese EVs out of the US, but they don't stop US influence from fading everywhere else. South America is voting with their wallets, and 'buy American' doesn't work when the price is double and the tech is the same. Unless the US intends to sanction every country that prioritizes value over US geopolitics, this battle is already lost.

In South America there's also no anxiety over China becoming a superpower, which may be an argument against Chinese products in the US. In fact, China has pretty good relations with most South American countries. Likely better than the US. I wouldn't be surprised if many people view China more favorably.

The average person in the west isn't losing sleep over China either. That anxiety is mostly manufactured by the media pushing the narrative that they are an existential threat. Maybe they are, I don't know. But what I do know is that western companies love it when they can sell you overpriced products made in China, but panic the moment chinese companies sell the exact same product at a fair price.

Re: Electric vehicle sales are booming in South America – without Tesla

#68

Post by [deleted] »

eptcyka wrote: post #64
Animats wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Although Ford's CEO now gets it, Ford's product line doesn't reflect it yet. Farley has been bringing a few sample BYD cars to the US, for Ford people to drive around and to take apart. Farley dragged his executive team to China to see a BYD plant. They came back scared. But what Ford actually sells is 1) an F-150 converted to electric, 2) a Ford Mustang converted to electric, and 3) a Ford Transit converted to elect…

The lightning isn’t selling, almost at all.

[deleted]

Re: Electric vehicle sales are booming in South America – without Tesla

#69

Post by jack_tripper »

sofixa wrote: post #29
noosphr wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think we've seen the end game yet. I have an electric cargo bike. During a kids party yesterday I ran 5 different errands with it while someone with a car managed to get stuck in traffic, not find a parking spot, and miss the whole thing. The only reason why cars are the size and shape they are is because ICE engines couldn't be made smaller. Electric engines on the other hand are small enough that I can have…

> The only reason why cars are the size and shape they are is because ICE engines couldn't be made smaller. Electric engines on the other hand are small enough that I can have the chassis of a fully functioning car be light enough to lift by one man. Nope, the Smart existed for quite a while. Safety standards made cars slightly bigger (e.g. the new Renault Twingo is bigger than the original), but modern American "car…

>but the average car is a VW Golf or a Renault Clio sized

That hasn't been the case here in a long time. SUVs and crossovers are outselling all other categories.

Re: Electric vehicle sales are booming in South America – without Tesla

#70

Post by jeltz »

SilverElfin wrote: post #9

In Europe didn’t basically all brands take a hit? It was framed as Tesla falling behind but it’s more that Chinese EVs are so cheap, nothing can compete. Even within China the competition is insane, with over 100 car companies fighting to survive and giving out big discounts.

No. VW is up 78% and the market in general EV sales is up by 22%. It is actually just mostly Tesla doing poorly.

https://www.best-selling-cars.com/electric/2025-half-year-eu...

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