Someone please explain to me how the math works here. $15k usd is insanely low, do they really have that economy of scale or is this a subsidized attack on major car manufacturers, or is it both? Or is it something else?
The current Toyota Corolla, in 3-box sedan form, starts at 119,800 RMB in China. The BYD Qin is also a 3-box sedan, similar dimensions, but starts at 109,800 RMB, or 8.4% cheaper.
To compare this directly to the US, a 2024 Corolla starts at $22,050. So this would be like launching the Qin in the US at $19,995. If you did the same percentages it'd be $20,210, but "$19,995" gets you the "Under $20,000" which would be extremely noteworthy in the US where there's not much left under $20K. They'd probably be willing to eat $215/unit of margin at launch just to be able to run with "Starting at under $20K" in advertisements until the sales really roll in, then raise the price a bit 2 years later to get the margin they wanted.
For some reason cars cost a lot in the US. Even with safety standards and features.
Although, notably it's not as high as I expected.
Besides, 48 kWh battery is pretty small. Newer Chevy Bolts pack on 66 kWhs, and those vehicles are priced pretty low as-is.
As with most standard models, I'd bet there are a lot of features you'd want requiring an upgrade to a higher trim.
A lot of SEA countries as well as Russia's FarEast have limited used Japanese imports (Japan makes it hard to own a car past 5-6 years) because the used Japanese cars can destroy their new car market.
- with 48 kWh battery pack, up to 261 ml (420 km)
- with 57.6 kWh battery pack 316 mi (510 km)
- there is also apparently a 71.7 kWh battery pack option
CLTC ranges are supposed to be ~35% higher than EPA ranges.
Can't find warranty length or details.
A very polite way of saying "the usual specification-bullshitting the Chinese are famous for."
> "The European Union + some other territories (Turkey, Israel) rely on WLTP (Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicles Test Procedure), which replaced the wildly optimistic and now obsolete NEDC (New European Driving Cycle) in 2019.
The CLTC (China Light Duty Vehicle Test Cycle) replaced the NEDC in China and is usually the most unrealistically optimistic of the three.
...To make things a little confusing, though, not every automaker applies the results from the tests equally.*
https://insideevs.com/features/343231/heres-how-to-calculate...