They were mocked by Elon Musk in 2011, frowned upon and associated with forced labour. A Norwegian expert believes that the Chinese brand can become as popular as Toyota in this country.
BYD has been launching in Norway since 2021. The new Seal will compete with the Tesla Model 3. The Sea Lion – which will target the Model Y – will come later.
-We got a lot of pepper at first. “The car from China is crazy”…
Egg farmer Morten Asheim has just bought his third Chinese electric car. Next week, a brand new BYD Han will arrive at the farm outside Steinkjer.
By then, the car brand had sold just over 5,000 cars in Norway.
But the situation is different at the global level, where sales have increased significantly.
Just before Christmas, Tesla himself passed by, and It took the throne as the world's largest electric vehicle manufacturer. In the last quarter of last year, they sold 525,409 electric cars in the world, while Tesla sold “only” 484,507 cars.
Become as famous as Toyota?
Asheim still gets questions about the car he drives. People don't recognize him.
– But there is less doubt. My impression is that Chinese brands are more accepted now. There was a lot of negativity in the beginning, but that's not the case Sea of Toilat“Tronder says.
After his wife pushed him, he adds, they never regretted it.
But how big can the brand get? Is BYD about to become a name that “everyone” has heard of? A bit like when Tesla came out of nowhere in 2010? Or when Japanese cars arrived, with a great deal of skepticism, in Europe at the time?
– There is a new Toyota car in the works, says Atli Falsch Tovroed.
He is the managing director of Bilforlaget, which publishes several Norwegian automotive publications, including Bilnytt.
– I don't know if Tesla or Toyota are the comparison in Norway, but BYD is not close to its potential yet.
Overall, Build Your Own Dreams, as it is actually called, only accounts for about one percent of the total number of electric cars in Norway, Tesla 17.
But the trend is on the rise.
In 2023, there is a three percent discount New electric carsNew electric carsThe figures refer to official statistics released by the Road Traffic Information Board (OFV) regarding new electric vehicles registered for the first time. Registered in Norway as BYD. Do you combine a lot? Chinese brandsChinese brandsBYD, Chery, DFSK, Geely, HiPhi, Hongqi, JAC, Lotus, Maxus, MG, Nio, Polestar, Seres, Voyah and XPeng are all fully or partially Chinese electric car brands that have been launched in Norway. Those who arrived, totaled nearly fifteen percent.
BYD founder Wang Quanfu has been described as “a modern-day Henry Ford” by The Washington Post.
controversial
Aftenposten newspaper wrote on Friday how the company's buses came to be Associated with possible forced labour. 22 BYD buses operate in scheduled traffic in Oslo.
The background is one a report About working conditions in Chinese electric bus manufacturers requested by Swedish public transport companies.
These allegations relate to systematic exploitation, low wages and a dangerous working environment.
BYD did not respond to Aftenposten's inquiries about the bus report, but to Swedish professional magazine Bussmagasinet they did. The company image does not match. They point out that they have one Corporate social responsibility policy Which prevents them and their subcontractors from forced labour.
Senior Consultant Anders Hovde at Kantar Consulting has worked extensively on analyzing the Norwegian automobile market.
– What we know is that there is a fairly large percentage of Norwegian car buyers who are skeptical about China as an industrial country.
He mentions both technological quality, data security and ethics.
– Chinese cars are not the first choice, and at the same time many of them are practical when purchasing. And cars from China offer a lot of value for money.
Atle Falsch-Tovrød is editor-in-chief of Belnet magazine. – Tesla's sudden price shock in January of last year was a reaction to BYD's price war in China – which spread until it reached us. BYD and other Chinese players are what Elon Musk is afraid of.
Important local merchant
Return to farmer Morten Asheim in Steinker. He admits he felt “a little nervous” when so many people had the idea of buying his car three years ago.
The family has five boys and was looking for a seven-seat electric car when they bought a BYD SUV Tang three years ago. The family has recently transformed into a smaller Han family. In between, they also bought a second car, also a BYD – an Atto.
– Many of them were skeptical about the used value. We bought a car for 700,000, and when we trade it in, we take a loss of less than 60,000 a year for the 3 years we've had it. I think the loss on a BMW or Audi would be greater.
All three were purchased from a well-known dealer in Namsos. Atli Falsch-Tovrød believes this is essential:
– If a well-known car chain in Norway sells these cars, this gives credibility. He says the fact that many major Norwegian dealers are buying Chinese cars shows that the auto industry believes this.
Chinese cars do not enter the European market more slowly than Japanese and Korean cars did at the time, quite the opposite. The only ghost is geopolitics.
The musk and the laugh in his throat
behind In 2011, Tesla's tough guy is having fun From the idea of the Chinese overtaking his own company.
– Have you seen their cars? When BYD Now passed in December, Elon Musk said in a television interview with CNBC at the time, a clip that went viral on social media, not least Musk.
“I don’t think they’re particularly attractive,” Musk said.
Now the tube has a different sound:
Regarding the presentation of Tesla's latest quarterly report in 2023, Musk said that Chinese automakers will “crush” global competitors if trade barriers are not imposed.
Battery dominance
China's rise in the electric vehicle market is due to two main factors: a massive domestic market, and a dominant position in battery production.
Partially state-owned CattleCattleContemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) supplies batteries or battery components for a number of electric vehicles, including BMW, Tesla, Honda, Hyundai, and Volvo, to name a few. It is the world's largest vehicle battery manufacturer and has a market share Estimated at 37 percent On a global basis. BYD came in second place with a good score of 15.
Together, the two Chinese giants own more than half the market. It has been reported that they have price reduction For Chinese car manufacturers. This support can take place in a one-party state.
Senior advisor Stal Frydenlund at the Norwegian Electric Vehicle Association acknowledges that China's dominance on the battery side is a success factor.
– But it is not necessarily an additional advantage that we see in our part of the world. It would have been an advantage if battery resources were distributed more evenly on the planet.
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