Tag Archives: BYD

Chery is considering building a plant in Italy

European manufacturers are still struggling with Chinese car manufacturers, who are trying to conquer the European market in different ways, so the European Union introduced additional tariffs on vehicles from China. However, Chinese companies seem to have a “plan B”, building plants in Europe. After the Chinese car manufacturer BYD announced that it is building its plant in Hungary, another Chinese company (Chery) could follow the same path, but in Italy.

Currently, Stellantis is the only major car manufacturer in Italy and the new Italian government is trying to increase production by introducing another manufacturer, the Chinese company Chery. According to official information, the government is considering offering the Chinese manufacturer to build a plant in Italy, in order to increase the annual production of cars to over one million. Italy currently produces 800,000 cars a year.

Building a plant in Europe would be a good strategic decision that would allow Chinese companies to avoid obstacles when it comes to additional taxes or potential quotas that the EU could impose on vehicles imported from China. Obviously, Italy is the ideal place for that. According to Italian Industry Minister Adolfo Urso, over the past year the government has been talking to several manufacturers, including Tesla. The government’s goal is to increase production by an additional 300,000 cars per year.

Chery is the fifth largest Chinese car manufacturer with 1,881,316 vehicles sold in 2023. In the next two years, the company will launch three new SUV models with different power options, primarily intended for European customers. “Expectations are high and sales in Europe should be high enough to support the construction of the plant,” said Chery Europe Managing Director Jochen Tueting.

Source: Reuters

BYD ordered 7 new cargo ships

The largest Chinese car manufacturer, BYD, became one of the top 10 largest manufacturers in the world last year with 3,024,417 vehicles produced. In an effort to expand its business outside of China, their first target is the European market, where they are lagging behind the competition. In order to meet the goals and the increasing demand, the speed of transporting cars to Europe is needed, and for this reason, BYD ordered 7 new cargo ships.

The development of the automobile industry in China is expanding, primarily fully electric vehicles, which are killing competition worldwide with low production costs and subsidies provided by the Chinese government. Thanks to that, in 2023 China became the world’s largest car exporter with 4.91 million vehicles. That is one million vehicles more than Japan, which was the world’s largest exporter for decades.

BYD currently owns one transport ship (BYD Explorer No.1) built by a local company, whose capacity is 7,000 cars. That is not enough, so the additional 7 ships will help this Chinese giant to transport its cars around the world faster. Currently, Chinese companies own less than 50 car cargo ships, and their combined capacity is less than 150,000 vehicles. In comparison, Japanese companies have ships that can transport 1.6 million vehicles.

How serious a player BYD is is also shown by the fact that it invests 14 billion dollars in the development of advanced technology, especially the ADAS system, which will make its cars safer on the road. The company also invests in marketing, thus becoming an official partner of UEFA Euro 2024, which will be held in Germany this summer.

Source: Reuters

2025 YangWang U9

The Chinese luxury electric car brand owned by BYD Auto has unveiled its new sports car, the YangWang U9. It is the second sports car from the company that was founded in 2023 when it introduced its first car, the YangWang U8.

The YangWang U9 is almost five meters long with a wheelbase of 2.9 meters. It is equipped with the DiSus-X chassis control system, which BYD claims has undergone more than 30 months and 10 million kilometers of endurance tests, an advanced active suspension system, an optional carbon fiber rear spoiler, and Lambo-style doors.

Inside, the seats are upholstered in gray fabric with red accents. Fabric also covers the dashboard, door panels and center console, while the steering wheel is wrapped in gray leather. Two small displays in front of the driver and passenger and one on the central console show a minimalist approach. There are no big screens as we can see with other manufacturers.

The U9 is powered by four electric motors with a total output of 1,300 hp (970 kW) and 944 lb-ft (1,280 Nm) of torque. That’s enough power to propel the nearly 2.5-ton car from 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) in less than 2 seconds with a top speed of 300 km/h (186 mph). It is equipped with a 10 kWh LFP Balde battery that provides a range of 435 miles (∼700 km). It sits on 21″ wheels wrapped in 275/35 R21 front and 325/30 R21 rear tires.

YangWang will officially launch this model next week, and it is expected to cost more than $150,000 USD.

Source: YangWang

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