Irmscher also made a body kit for the all-electric minivan.
Monthly Archive: June 2023
Volvo XC40 Recharge Performs Better Than C40 In Moose Test
The two EV crossovers share the same dual-motor powertrain.
BYD confident of gaining higher market share in next 3-5 years, says president
Wang believes that the NEV change is a technological revolution, and only companies with core technologies will survive.
BYD is confident of gaining a higher market share in the next 3-5 years, said Wang Chuanfu, chairman and president of the Chinese new energy vehicle (NEV) giant, at its 2022 annual shareholders meeting today.
Commenting on the price war in China's auto industry, Wang said BYD's scale, brand and technology advantages will help it outperform its peers in future competition.
From January to April, BYD retail sales in China rose 79.2 percent to 702,608 units, taking the No. 1 spot with an 11.9 percent share, according to a ranking released last month by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).
FAW-Volkswagen sold 509,774 units at retail during the period, up 1.4 percent year-on-year, and ranked second with an 8.6 percent share, according to the ranking.
BYD sold 240,220 NEVs in May, up 108.99 percent from 114,943 units in the same month last year, according to data it released on June 1. The CPCA is expected to release its May sales rankings in the coming days.
On March 29, Wang said BYD aims to become the largest automaker in China by the end of this year.
The NEV industry is poised for big changes in the next 3-5 years, and the pace of change is now accelerating, Wang said today, adding that this is expected to accelerate further in the future and could exceed expectations.
For BYD, the toughest period is over and it will have a strategic opportunity period, Wang said.
BYD will leverage its existing industrial chain advantages, cost advantages, technology advantages and product advantages to further optimize its brand image and lead China's NEVs to the world, he said.
BYD has been vigorously expanding its production capacity in various regions since last year, and has now basically solved the problem of imbalance between supply and demand, Wang said.
The company's current production capacity and output of components can meet future market demand, he said, adding that BYD has made arrangements to meet the growing demand in overseas markets.
Wang believes that the NEV change is a technological revolution, and only companies with core technologies will survive.
If a company simply assembles, the probability of surviving is small, he said.
Companies that survive will also have a good strategic direction, because the industry's opportunity window is only 3-5 years, and the choice of models and technology lines is important, according to Wang.
He highlighted the importance of quick decision-making mechanisms, saying that auto companies tend to be large and have long decision-making mechanisms, but the NEV market is like a battlefield, requiring quick decisions.
Wang also mentioned his views on smart driving, saying that in the absence of changes in laws and regulations, smart driving technology is likely to be only an assist and difficult to commercialize.
In fully autonomous driving, any one safety accident will expose car companies to great responsibility and may drag down the sales of the whole model, he said.
Full CPCA rankings: Top-selling models and automakers in China in Apr
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Baojun Yunduo more specs and interior shots leaked. To rival BYD Dolphin
The Baojun Yunduo is ready for pre-sales in China with 400 km of range, 136 hp and the starting price of 14,000 USD. BYD Dolphin rival.
The post Baojun Yunduo more specs and interior shots leaked. To rival BYD Dolphin appeared first on CarNewsChina.com.
Oh, What A Feeling! Australians Love Their Teslas! (May Update)
Australians love their Teslas. Over 4,400 were sold in May — 3,178 Model Y and 1,298 Model 3 electric vehicles. It is sad to see the number of Model 3s going down, but it is to be expected with the popularity of the SUV-shaped Model Y. Electric vehicles have maintained their approximately 7% penetration rate […]
Tesla asks Chinese suppliers to build plants in Mexico, report says
Tesla is asking several Chinese supply chain companies to build factories in Mexico in order to replicate a Giga Shanghai and its supply chain system there, according to local media.
(Image: Tesla China video screenshot)
China's well-established electric vehicle (EV) industry chain is one of the key factors in Tesla's success in the country. Now, the US EV maker is reportedly looking to replicate it in Mexico.
Tesla is asking several Chinese supply chain companies to build factories in Mexico to replicate a Giga Shanghai and its supply chain system there, local media outlet 36kr reported today.
Tesla's pace is urgent and suppliers could lose orders amounting to hundreds of millions of yuan if they don't respond in time, the report said, citing a person familiar with the matter.
On March 1, Tesla unveiled plans to build a factory in Mexico for the production of next-generation cars at an Investor Day event.
Mexican Foreign Ministry officials had said the plant would invest more than $5 billion and have a planned capacity of 1 million vehicles.
Some of Tesla's suppliers in China have announced plans to build factories in Mexico since the beginning of this year.
Ningbo Xusheng Group said in late March that it would build a production base in Mexico, with a total investment of no more than $276 million. Late May, the construction of the project was officially launched in Mexico's Coahuila state.
If all goes well, the plant will be ready for production in July or August next year, 36kr said, citing a source close to the project.
According to the report, a number of Chinese manufacturers of production line equipment have already set up offices in Mexico to take charge of design, after-sales support and other business aspects.
Mexico is now a hotbed of investment, many customers are coming over, and there are even supply chain companies bringing production line workers to Mexico to build factories, the report quoted a Tesla supplier source as saying.
Low labor costs, and industrial chain support are Mexico's advantages. However, there are supply chain sources said that Mexico is not as mature as the European and American markets, social and geopolitical risks are relatively high, the report noted.
On July 18 last year, Bloomberg reported that Chinese power battery giant CATL was considering building a manufacturing plant in at least two locations in Mexico, possibly to supply Tesla and Ford.
The CATL sites would help Mexico cement its role in the region's electric vehicle production, which has long been a major part of the auto industry's supply chain, the Bloomberg report noted.
Tesla's revamped Model 3 nears final trial production in Shanghai, report says
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CATL extends coverage of its EVOGO battery swap service to Fuzhou
EVOGO's battery swap service was previously available in Xiamen, Hefei and Guiyang.
(Image credit: CnEVPost)
EVOGO, the battery swap service brand of CATL, China's largest power battery manufacturer, has brought its service to a new city.
EVOGO's battery swap service is now available in Fuzhou, the capital of Fujian province, with the first three battery swap stations already in operation, CATL said on June 6.
By the end of this year, EVOGO's service radius in the Fuzhou urban area is expected to narrow to 8 kilometers, said Ningde, Fujian-based CATL.
EVOGO's operating entity, CATL's subsidiary Contemporary Amperex Energy Service Technology (CAES), signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement with the subsidiaries of Sinopec and State Grid in Fujian on June 6.
(Image credit: CATL)
CATL unveiled the EVOGO brand on January 22, 2022, which offers a battery swap solution consisting of battery blocks, fast battery swap stations, and an app.
The battery blocks, called Choco-SEB (swapping electric block) by CATL, are mass-produced batteries developed specifically to enable shared battery swaps, allowing consumers to pick and choose from one or more batteries to flexibly match their mileage needs.
(Image credit: CnEVPost)
EVOGO's battery swap service was officially launched on April 18, 2022, with Xiamen, Fujian being the first city to see the service available.
On June 18 last year, Hefei, Anhui province in eastern China saw the launch of EVOGO's battery swap service, becoming the second city to be covered by the service.
On December 12, CATL announced the expansion of EVOGO's battery swap service to a third city -- Guiyang in southwestern China's Guizhou province.
The first vehicle to support EVOGO's battery swap service is the NAT (Next Automatic Taxi) model of FAW's Bestune brand, which is aimed at the shared mobility market.
On April 27 last year, CATL announced that it had signed a framework agreement with EV startup Aiways to develop a battery swap-enabled model based on the Aiways U5, the second EVOGO battery swap-enabled model. Aiways is currently facing financial difficulties.
Last October 25, CATL said that the Dongfeng Peugeot-Citroën's Dongfeng Fukang ES600 sedan will have a variant capable of using EVOGO's battery swap service.
CATL officially unveils battery swap brand EVOGO, brings innovative battery block concept
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VW Seriously Doesn’t Want Dealers To Mark Up The ID. Buzz
The Volkswagen ID. Buzz, long a highly desired future electric vehicle with strong ties to the past, is coming to America. I talked with a Volkswagen exec several years ago about the Buzz. He was curious if I thought the Buzz would be popular in the US, and more importantly, if it would sell here. […]
Lucid prepares for China entry, hires ex-NIO, Ford exec Zhu Jiang
Zhu Jiang, a former executive at NIO, Ford and Jidu Auto, has joined Lucid to head up its China operations, and he said Lucid is starting to prepare for its entry into the country.
(Image credit: Lucid Motors)
US electric vehicle (EV) startup Lucid Motors (NASDAQ: LCID) has hired an auto industry veteran in China, as it began hiring for a slew of positions late last year.
Zhu Jiang, who previously served in executive roles at NIO (NYSE: NIO), Ford (NYSE: F) and Jidu Auto, the car-making arm of Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU), has joined Lucid to head up its China operations, local media outlet Jiemian reported on June 7.
Lucid is just starting to prepare for its entry into the Chinese market, Zhu told the outlet.
Since April, Zhu has been sharing information about Lucid in the status of his personal WeChat account, according to the report.
Lucid said on May 31 that it was raising about $3 billion through a new stock offering, most of which came from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), which controls it.
The financing is aimed at allowing Lucid to accelerate bringing state-of-the-art EV technology and product experiences to users across the industry and around the world, and China is looking forward to it, Zhu said recently, according to Jiemian.
Zhu is a Chinese automotive industry veteran who joined BMW Brilliance in 2003 to head marketing activities and served as Mini brand director from November 2008 to 2012.
He left BMW to join Lexus in 2013 and helped the automaker achieve its first 100,000-vehicle annual sales in China in 2016.
Zhu joined NIO in 2017 as vice president of user development.
He left NIO in the first half of 2020 and joined Ford China on June 1, 2020, as chief operating officer of the EV business unit.
During his time at Ford, he led the team through the production and launch of Ford's first all-electric vehicle, the Mustang Mach-E, in China.
In November 2021, Zhu joined Jidu as vice president and head of user development and operations. Jidu was officially launched on March 2, 2021 and the first model has been unveiled but has not yet hit the market.
Lucid was co-founded in 2007 by Bernard Tse, former vice president and director of Tesla, and Sam Weng, a former Oracle executive. In December 2016, Lucid's first production car, the Lucid Air, was launched.
Lucid is targeting the high-end luxury EV market, with the Lucid Air starting at a current price of $87,400.
In July 2021, Lucid went public on NASDAQ through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) and currently has a market cap of $14.5 billion.
In November 2021, Lucid said in its first earnings report after listing that it planned to enter the Chinese market in 2023.
The company's CEO, Peter Rawlinson, said in a CNBC interview at the time that Lucid will build a factory in China by "mid-decade".
In December 2022, Lucid's website opened up 14 jobs in China, all of them in Shanghai, in areas including hardware engineering, supply chain, retail, logistics, digital, and legal.
Three of the 14 jobs were related to localization, implying that Lucid was launching preparations to enter China at that time.
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