I’ve always thought at some point the Chinese were going to find a way to enter the US market with $15,000 cars and $20,000 SUV’s, with much better build quality and equipment than the old Yugo or original Hyundais.
“I’ve always thought at some point the Chinese were going to find a way to enter the US market with $15,000 cars and $20,000 SUV’s, with much better build quality and equipment than the old Yugo or original Hyundais.”
China has a $15,000 BYD plug in hybrid that does 80 miles on the pack then switches to the small gas generator for 1200+ more miles of range. A group of drivers drive one day and night in a major Chinese city till it ran empty at 1300 miles total range. It was getting 90 mpg American and hit 108mpg for parts of the trip. These were not hypermile test drivers they were journalists and camera men.
BYD plans to make that 5 passenger sedan in Mexico soon, when they do they will dominate that market. NAFTA means any Mexican made BYD is a Mexican car and can cross the border at will with Mexican plates. Anyone who has ever been to South Texas or El Paso can tell you how many legal Mexican vehicles cross every day and stay as well. A Mexican national is under no obligation to title a vehicle in Texas or any other state. A vehicle licenced under a Corp or LLC also is under no obligation to title a vehicle in Texas or any other state. I fully intend to get a BYD plate it using an international LLC in Mexico and drive it across and to North Texas. Two of them the wife gets one too. They will probably replace the Model 3 outright and supplement the Model Y when the cargo space is not needed.