Chinese electric vehicle giant BYD has no plans to compete in the United States as the market is apparently “too confusing for buyers,” Yahoo Finance reports, citing an interview with executives.
BYD intends to stay out of the US
BYD Executive Vice President and BYD Americas Chief Executive Stella Li clarified in an interview with Anchor Akiki Fujita that the Chinese electric automaker has no plans to launch its electric vehicle offerings in the US.
Vice President Li explained that penetrating the US market is not only confusing for buyers but also “too complicated” for the company due to political issues and market slowdown.
“It’s an interesting market, but it’s very complicated if you’re talking about EV, and then I think the US market is a little bit slowdown on electrification, and there are a lot of confusing, also very complicated, so we’re saying, ‘No…we don’t have plans to come to the US.”
Stella Li, BYD Executive Vice President and BYD Americas Chief Executive
The BYD executive also debunked previous reports about the upcoming Mexican factory, saying it will only “mainly support the Mexican market.” For context, recent speculations suggested that the facility will serve as an export hub to the US.
Complications
As mentioned, BYD currently sees no growth prospects in the US market due to various complications.
When asked if politics prompted the Chinese electric vehicle giant to avoid Tesla’s home turf, Li answered, “Everything is complicated. Politics are complicated…and its confusing for the consumer, and then they don’t know which to choose.”
VP Li further clarified her statement about confused buyers, saying, “the US is you have too many confusing noise, speech from different politic. This can bring a lot of confusing to consumer, and also to auto manufacturers. They are not eager to invest.”
The BYD executive’s remarks emerged after American legacy brands like Ford and General Motors decided to scale back on their electrification push. In contrast, VP Li claimed the “message is strong” in China:
“If you are not investing for electric car, you are out. You will die. You have no future.”
Stella Li, BYD Executive Vice President and BYD Americas Chief Executive
US vs. China
Vice President Li compared the Biden-Harris Administration’s Inflation Reduction Act to China’s success in the electric vehicle shift.
China reportedly has approximately 35% electric vehicle share, while the US only has about 7%. According to the executive, this significant gap is primarily due to the IRA’s restrictions on promoting domestic investments.
She also remarked that automakers are “a little bit too scared about a kind of Chinese competition,” warning them that they may lag in the global EV race.
“I never believe that trade protection will help any company.”
Stella Li, BYD Executive Vice President and BYD Americas Chief Executive
Considering the current political climate amid the White House’s efforts to cut their reliance on China, it is indeed critical for BYD to avoid the US market. Nonetheless, BYD has already penetrated South America, even confirming considerations to develop a new Mexican factory.
