A tiny, low-priced electric car called the Seagull has American automakers and politicians trembling.
The car, launched last year by Chinese automaker BYD, sells for around $12,000 in China, but drives well and is put together with craftsmanship that rivals U.S.-made electric vehicles that cost three times as much. A shorter-range version costs under $10,000.
Tariffs on imported Chinese vehicles probably will keep the Seagull away from America’s shores for now, and it likely would sell for more than 12 grand if imported.
But the rapid emergence of low-priced EVs from China could shake up the global auto industry in ways not seen since Japanese makers exploded on the scene during the oil crises of the 1970s. BYD, which stands for “Build Your Dreams,” could be a nightmare for the U.S. auto industry.
“Any car company that’s not paying attention to them as a competitor is going to be lost when they hit their market,” said Sam Fiorani, a vice president at AutoForecast Solutions near Philadelphia. “BYD’s entry into the U.S. market isn’t an if. It’s a when.”
More evidence that I’m not an American, because I don’t want a bigger vehicle
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t like that cars have been getting bigger and bigger either, they are unsafe for everyone but the occupants and they wear out the roads faster, but it is just something that is still actively happening.
I just got off the freeway jockeying for position with trucks whose hoods are the height of my entire car, so I am acutely aware that it’s happening. It’s just yet another way that I feel like an alien in my birth country.