The major Chinese car manufacturer BYD finds it ‘ridiculous’ that Chinese car brands are under fire in Europe and the US. CEO Stella Li explains to this site that the accusations about unfair competition and alleged espionage practices are ‘unfair and absolutely not based on facts’.
US President Joe Biden has the FBI investigate whether China can shut down all cars sold in the US at the push of a button and, if necessary, completely disrupt the country. In addition, politicians are concerned that everything recorded by the cameras and computers in Chinese cars could be misused for espionage purposes. In the Netherlands, the House of Representatives is also concerned about these developments.
Stella Li, the vice president of BYD, speaks of “completely false accusations” against the Chinese brands. She finds it completely absurd that Chinese cars can be used for espionage. “Do you really think that can happen? Joe Biden has no scientific basis for claiming that China could or would shut down the cars. He better worry about the smartphones. That is a more serious risk, everyone always has their phone with them and everything is observed and recorded in it. I cannot understand why people believe that cars are used for these purposes.”
Additional import taxes
In the meantime, the European Union is also threatening additional import duties on Chinese cars because of alleged unfair competition. The European Union says it has evidence that Chinese brands receive a lot of money from the Chinese government to conquer the European car market. This would allow them to offer their cars at much lower prices than their European competitors.
Li: “The Chinese government is investing money in the car market to help it progress, but all subsidies go directly to consumers and not to manufacturers. The Chinese car market is very competitive, with more than 300 car brands fighting for consumer attention. The government is investing money in subsidies to entice consumers to buy a new car. But money to the manufacturers? On the contrary. If a foreign car manufacturer wants to establish a factory in China, it will receive more subsidies from the Chinese government than if Chinese manufacturers want to do so.”
Overcapacity Chinese automotive industry
Yet it is a fact that the Chinese car industry is struggling with overcapacity. Particularly because the economy is going down for a while, more cars are being produced than the market demands. And that is why conquering the European market has become even more important. “BYD is not bothered by that overproduction,” Li swears. “The electric cars, in which BYD is the market leader, do not suffer from overproduction. That problem is more common with conventional cars with combustion engines.”
Stella Li says that the criticism in the West does not worry her. In the meantime, she will continue determinedly to get BYD into the top of the best-selling car brands as quickly as possible, especially in Europe. She is BYD’s second-highest boss and this month was put in charge of its further advance in Europe. While BYD initially spoke of a target of 10 percent market share in Europe by 2030, Li says that it wants to achieve that goal even faster. “We want to distinguish ourselves from other brands, especially with quality and technology, and we want to start producing cars in Europe as quickly as possible. We also want to establish European departments for design and research and development. I think that ultimately we will also have to make models that are specifically intended for the European market.”
Sealion 7 and Yuan Up
Before then, BYD will first introduce the Sealion 7 in the Netherlands this fall. That is an SUV coupe based on the Seal model that is already sold here. The electric compact SUV Yuan Up will also arrive here next year, which will compete with, among others, the Peugeot e-2008. But one of the most important weapons in the battle will be a small, fully electric car that will also be for sale in the Netherlands next year. This completely new model will soon fall in the price range of around 20,000 euros and may convince private car buyers in particular to drive electric.
Nevertheless, Li is aware that interest in electric cars in Europe is currently experiencing a slowdown. “I can imagine that many motorists will first opt for a plug-in hybrid in the coming years. This is a good interim solution to introduce them to electric driving, while they do not have to worry about being stranded with an empty battery. Because that fear still exists among many European motorists, I notice. Once they get used to how pleasant and easy it is to drive electrically, their next car will probably be fully electric.”
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