> I highly doubt BYD could sell a car in the US for $20k.

Yeah I see no way that happens. They have no dealer network to fall back on, so they have to either partner with someone already established, or they have to try and spin up a mobile service network like Tesla did. That costs money, and isn't going to happen while selling $20K cars.

Amazon enters the chat.

Or Walmart. Hell, even Costco could play well here.

i would buy the SHIT out of a costco car

What would you do with the rest of the car?

I doubt the US would let BYD sell cars openly in the US. China related company's no longer have level playing fields in the US.

I think Volvo is going to try to sell their Volvo EX30 in the US.

But yes; in practice the US have banned Chinese EVs by a combination of subsidy policies and import taxes.

The 2025 Volvo EX30: Priced to Tempt Americans

https://spectrum.ieee.org/volvo-china-electric-car

Volvo is a Chinese car company.

It is a multinational company with Chinese owners, headquartered in Sweden. Used to be owned by Ford.

That's a quite reductionist view.

Just because a Chinese holding company owns something doesn't mean it's a "Chinese company".

It's on its way to being a Chinese-owned brand.

Just like MG, which is now a brand owned by Shanghai Automotive Industrial Co. Or Jaguar Land Rover, owned by Tata Industries.

It's only a reductionist view in the very short term.

Both, Volve and JLR, are actually hreat examples of what can happen when the rich owner doesn't interfere with operations. JLR all of a sudden is doing great, building great cars as a kind of nieche luxury brand. Volvo the same. None did particulary well under Ford's ownership. Sadly, Saab was killed by GM before it could be saved.

In fact, JLR and Volvo were more "brands" under Ford ownership, as compared to now where both are independent car makers.

it's illegal for a chinese company to not have ccp drones as part of leadership.

Volvo's >80% privately owned by one Chinese guy (through a holding company).

So yes, it's a Chinese company, as much as the ownership of any large modern conglomerate can be attributed to a given nation. If that one guy wants all Volvo's to be shipped fluorescent pink it's going to happen.

Note that I was referring to Volvo Cars, the company that manufactures trucks etc. isn't owned by the same holding company, but they've got an agreement to share the "Volvo" brand.

Indeed. Nobody was calling it an American car company when Ford owned it. Once it formally merges with Geely, it will become a Chinese car company.

side-note: I saw the EX30 and thought that it was the 2nd gen Bolt GM wasn't planning to build...

Lots of variables at play here, so obviously this isn’t a perfect comparison. But… BYD has a presence in Australia. Cheapest car here is AUD$39K. Meanwhile a Tesla Model 3 starts at AUD$69K.

In NZ, MG (brand of SAIC) EVs are going great, because they're cheapest. (MG also sells hybrids still for the rural market here.) BYD is doing well too.

Great Wall Motors (Haval, GWM brands) is trying to push hybrids here. China already has its own legacy manufacturers like Toyota or Volkswagen.

It would make sense that the higher competition pushes all prices lower. If China had access the US market prices for all vehicles would drop there too.

I doubt they would be allowed. Even European carmakers find the non-tariff barriers hard to navigate. There's all sorts of "gold plated" minimum requirements like wireless tyre pressure sensors that add significant cost for very minor safety improvements.

You say 'gold plated' I say 'written in blood'. Tomato to-mah-toe.

The US is not doing especially well on road safety: https://bigthink.com/strange-maps/road-deaths-us-eu/

This is because the "safety" measures focus on cars and drivers, while everyone is switching to "truck" vehicles that are less safe for pedestrians.

If the US were serious about road safety, they would change the roads and streets to be more safe and tax 1500+ kg vehicles into oblivion.

The model 3 in china is also using chinese packaged LiFePo4 batteries as required for the deal Elon managed to work out (Tesla maintains 100% control of their chinese business). This reduces the price but at the cost of range.