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DETROIT – The specter of Chinese automakers flooding the U.S. market with less expensive but increasingly impressive electric vehicles might be responsible for more than a few sleepless nights among U.S. auto executives.
For some industry watchers that wouldn’t be such a bad thing if it helps those executives send a clearer message about the advanced state of China’s auto offerings as Ford Motor Co.’s Jim Farley did in a recent Wall Street Journal story. The Ford president and CEO described the situation as an “existential threat.”
Perhaps no Chinese company better exemplifies the ambition and evolution of the country’s auto industry than BYD.
The company, founded in 1995, has grown rapidly in recent years even though it didn’t sell its first vehicle until 2005. BYD has its roots as a battery manufacturer, which might say a lot about the company’s competency in this arena.
Michael Dunne, CEO of Dunne Insights, has followed the auto industry in China for many years and sees BYD as a potent global automotive player. A company that sold a little over 600,000 plug-in and electric vehicles in 2021 is expected to hit 4 million in vehicle sales this year, which, Reuters noted, “would put BYD almost at par with Ford” globally.
BYD even beat Tesla in electric vehicle sales late last year. Tesla regained the top global EV spot, but that competition remains extremely tight.
“I don’t think the auto industry’s ever seen such astronomical growth in such a short period of time,” Dunne said. “So just phenomenal growth in the last three years and making them a major global player to be reckoned with in markets worldwide.”
The fit, finish, ride quality and acceleration of these vehicles make them “highly impressive,” Dunne said, calling the battery technology arguably world class.
But BYD isn’t just a company building vehicles in other parts of the globe.
BYD has been operating in the United States for years.
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