One of those pushes includes BYD’s forthcoming Seal U PHEV crossover. This car, already on sale in China as the BYD Song Plus, is set to come to many European markets, slotting in as a crossover counterpart to the Seal EV sedan. Li says the Seal U will have at least 80 kilometers (50 miles) of full EV range, which she thinks will be a game-changer for Europeans, and be the start of BYD boosting its sales in Europe.
“I think you’ll see a big change in the European market,” Li said. Still, despite BYD making inroads, Li admitted that there aren’t enough dealers and aftersales service centers for the models in continental Europe, and it needs to build more. For example, BYD only has 20 stores in Italy—but it plans on having 105 dealerships in Italy by the end of next year.
Those sound like a lot of stores, especially since in some cases the EV infrastructure and revolution is faltering as of late. Sales can be interpreted as slowing. Legacy brands like Volkswagen, Ford and Fiat have been very open about slow-selling EVs hurting profitability and are the reason for shuttering factories.
Li says this is only temporary. In fact, the lull is pretty natural. “When you’re pushing a new technology, growth is fast growing, but then you’ll pause—[demand] will snap back,” Li said.
She also thinks that confusing messaging from legacy EU brands and government, some of which have reneged on their promises to move 100% electrification, have hurt sales. Add in high energy costs in some EU member states, and there’s a perfect storm for EV sales to lull in Europe despite the potential to market willingness.
BYD is dedicated to Europe, even the EU and China tariff spat will likely be resolved soon, and collaboration will continue. BYD’s European production plans (like its factory soon to open in Hungary) will continue.
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Contact the author: kevin.williams@insideevs.com
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Publish date : 2024-12-02 13:36:00
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