Michael Shu He is the CEO of BYD in Europe. The Chinese brand was present at the Geneva Motor Show and there they gave quite a few glimpses of where they intend to go in the short term. Its goal is to reach a 5% share of electric cars sold in Europe, even before launching the Hungarian plant.
In 2023, the year BYD took off on our continent, they sold 15,644 cars, all 100% electric and just 1.1% of the total vehicles registered with this technology. That objective would place them at around 70,000 cars per year. It may seem like a lot, but the truth is that this brand launches very big orders and delivers: they overtook Volkswagen to become the largest automobile manufacturer in China and are already fighting face to face with Tesla for world leadership in sales of electric vehicles.
The European market is special. There are different laws and languages (something that does not happen in China or the United States) and the complexity is even greater when the weight of each channel (individual, business or rental) is analyzed, which varies greatly depending on one market or another.
Shu (who was in charge of the Dynasty series in 2015, where the Han and Tang sold in Europe are located), is clear that the European factory will be vital: “we will be closer to customers, we will offer faster deliveries and People will trust us more. Our goal is to become a European company and not a Chinese company doing business in Europe. Production is expected to start before 2026 (with a capacity of 150,000 units per year expandable) and manufacture electric cars with battery packs manufactured in Hungary.
One of the problems that many of us point out with Chinese brands is their positioning in the market. Michael Shu says they are “affordable premium” and that would give room for the arrival of new, more luxurious own brands such as Denza (a little above BYD) and Yangwang (the top of the group). “We are testing the market reaction so no decision has been made,” he said in this regard.
Furthermore, in Geneva the brand presented the Seal U with plug-in hybrid mechanics that can be of great help when it comes to gaining share, especially if pure electric registrations stagnate. Right now the BYD Atto 3 is the best-selling model in Europe.
Partnering with large dealer groups instead of betting on an agency model, Shu believes his network has a lot of room to grow, while “we don't believe that selling cars will work if you are only digital.”
As for the electric car price war, everything seems to indicate that they will not enter it: “We are small and we set our own prices, keeping them stable as much as we can, making small adjustments only when necessary, since we think it is unfair to adjust prices up and down too frequently. “What we have seen recently in Europe in terms of electric car prices is too much of an overreaction.”
Via: Autonews Europe
