Chinese EV Carmakers Are Taking Mexico by Storm While Eyeing U.S.

Chinese Carmakers Are Taking Mexico by Storm While Eyeing U.S.

Forbes | Jack Ewing | Reporting from Mexico City and San Luis Potosí
Dec. 9, 2024

Behind a crumbling brick wall in a working-class neighborhood of Mexico City lurks a seemingly innocuous car lot. But it could be a sign of a potentially grave threat to the North American auto industry.

A makeshift dealership for the Chinese electric vehicle company BYD has sprung up in this dusty lot. Esteban Alegría, an employee, said the dealership was selling cars as fast as they arrived from China. Mr. Alegría’s top seller is the Dolphin Mini, a small but capable four-door electric compact that costs about $18,000, about $10,000 less than the cheapest battery-powered vehicle available in the United States.
Mr. Alegría’s dealership is one of dozens that Chinese carmakers like BYD, Chery, Geely and SAIC are opening up around Mexico as they establish a foothold in North America.

Chinese carmakers are effectively barred from the United States by tariffs that double the sticker price of vehicles imported from China, and they are not yet manufacturing significant numbers of vehicles in Mexico that could be exported across the border.

But their ambition to expand overseas is on vivid display in Mexico and across Latin America, Asia, Europe and Africa. Ads for Chinese brands are in airports and soccer stadiums and loom above Mexico City streets on large billboards. Chinese cars, both gasoline and electric models, are an increasingly common sight...more
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/09/business/china-mexico-ev-electric-vehicles.html
ALT: https://archive.is/skyar

Why you can't have cheap EV's - by the United States of Confusion that says over and over and over and over again that it is all about "FREE TRADE" - until it's not. It would be funny if it wasn't so GD sad.

Say goodbye to the US car market as we know it: Cheap Chinese EVs are coming (OH NO THEY AREN'T)

Business Insider | May 17, 2023

Meanwhile, Chinese brands are unmatched in affordability on their home turf and in Europe.

One of China's most popular EVs is the Wuling Hong Guang Mini, a minuscule city car that costs roughly $5,000. At the Shanghai auto show last month, BYD launched the Seagull, a stylish, pint-sized hatchback with an estimated range of 190 miles. Its starting price? Under $11,000.

Tu Le, the managing director of Sino Auto Insights, a consulting firm that specializes in the Chinese auto industry, said Chinese firms aren't skimping on quality for the sake of affordability.