New Energy Vehicles (NEVs) in China

[supersnoop]

Chery and Jaguar Land Rover formed a joint venture and created an EV company called Freelander, focusing on electric SUV. Their first product (images below) will be available world-wide later this year.

If you know, the design is heavily based on the original Freelander from the 00's.
I am paraphrasing a recent article I read... 10 - 15 years ago, a Chinese company might just copy the design and run with it. Now, they have enough money to pay for the name and make it legitimate.

Who could have guessed two of the most unrelated companies in the world would come together? BYD and KFC partner up to offer one stop charging+chicken.

This is not surprising... It's something many people have conjectured that would happen including myself. Food service is a natural pairing to smart services in the car. Imagine you don't want to cook and asking the car "I want to pick up a pizza on the way home".

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Also, this is similar to the Tesla Diner where there is an in-car app to order food from the restaurant.

Another thing to note, a lot of gas stations in North America are beefing up their hot food availability or partnering with fast food restaurants with compact locations as part of charger build outs since people might spend at least 10 - 15 minutes there.

 

[sunnymaxi]

Chinese carmakers double share of UK market in March​

Fifteen per cent of the 380,000 cars registered in the UK last month were Chinese brands, up from 7.4 per cent in March 2025, according to figures released this week by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

“The rate of growth is beyond anything we’ve ever seen in the [UK],” said Ian Plummer, chief customer officer at online car marketplace Autotrader.

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

 

[vincent]

 

[Wrought]

Seems the Brazilian government is having issues keeping its bureaucrats in line w.r.t. BYD.

RIO DE JANEIRO, April 13 (Reuters) - Brazil's secretary of labor inspection was fired for

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Chinese automaker BYD

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

to a registry ‌of employers accused of subjecting workers to conditions described by the government as similar to slavery, two people close to the matter told Reuters. Luiz Felipe Brandao de Mello disobeyed an order from Labor Minister Luiz Marinho to leave the electric vehicle maker off Brazil's labor abuse "dirty list," said the sources, who requested anonymity to discuss the matter. His dismissal, made official in Monday's official gazette, is the latest flashpoint in a crisis between President Luiz Inacio Lula ⁠da Silva's government and the traditionally independent inspectors who target serious labor abuses. Marinho has previously been accused of

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

to keep big companies off the list. Brazil's Labor Ministry said the dismissal was "an administrative act," without providing further details. Mello did not reply to a request for comment.

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

It should be noted that a court order provisionally removed BYD from the list in question last week, pending final ruling.

RIO DE JANEIRO, April 9 (Reuters) - A Brazilian court has issued an injunction removing Chinese automaker BYD

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

from a government list of ‌firms accused of employing workers in

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

, a document seen by Reuters on Thursday showed. The injunction issued by labor court judge Luiz Fausto Marinho de Medeiros provisionally removes BYD's name from the list until a final ruling is reached.

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

 

[Michael90]

Seems the Brazilian government is having issues keeping its bureaucrats in line w.r.t. BYD.

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

It should be noted that a court order provisionally removed BYD from the list in question last week, pending final ruling.

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

BYD should avoid getting into such a situation again in future , especially in building factories overseas . Their brand name is in the picture here.
They should make sure they adapt stringent work standards in their factories and standardize rules their contractors should meet if they want to win building contracts with them overseas. So hope they will learn from this debacle and take stricter measures to supervise their contractors meet their standards in future

 

[HighGround]

BYD should avoid getting into such a situation again in future , especially in building factories overseas . Their brand name is in the picture here.
They should make sure they adapt stringent work standards in their factories and standardize rules their contractors should meet if they want to win building contracts with them overseas. So hope they will learn from this debacle and take stricter measures to supervise their contractors meet their standards in future

Unavoidable friction when getting into new markets. The only way to learn is by doing, and "doing" will involve making mistakes and stepping on land mines. The important thing here is to be open to criticism, change, and address the concerns of locals. Not all locals are going to be sensitive to the same issues either.

 

[Lethe]

BYD is launching Shark 6 Performance in Australia soon. Will have 3.5t tow capabilities.

BYD is also making a

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

available at a small discount over the standard dual cab, which will give commercial operators more flexibility in configuring the vehicle to their requirements.

The new "Performance" variant with more powerful 2.0L engine, uprated tow capacity of 3.5 tons is a mixed blessing in my view. A missed opportunity is that it does not include any differential locks, low-range transfer case, or upgraded rear motor to address shortcomings in off-road capability relative to benchmark ICE utes. Obviously these items have cost implications, but even a rear diff-lock alone would have been a meaningful improvement I think. So far as I can tell, the improved towing capacity makes it broadly comparable to benchmark ICE utes.

The broader issue is that towing 3.5 tonnes with any of these vehicles (HiLux, Ranger, D-Max, Triton, etc.) seems to be a rather

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

both from a safety and vehicles dynamics perspective, and in terms of complying with various weight limits in practical use scenarios. One issue is that, under these maximum load conditions, available payload rating is easily swallowed by 10% towball downweight, plus all the extra equipment (particularly bullbars) that people tend to strap on these vehicles. The American "full-size trucks" don't actually fare much better in their base forms (e.g. stock F-150) either: with longer wheelbase they are more dynamically stable towing platforms, but their payload capacity is actually lower than that of their smaller cousins! I recall encountering the idea that while base Shark 6 may "only" be rated to tow 2.5 tonnes, it is probably a better vehicle for towing that mass than the benchmark ICE utes are, as Shark's additional mass and longer wheelbase tend to improved safety and dynamics. It seems that most everyone would be better off limiting their caravans, trailers, etc. to significantly below these rated capacities. Heavy towing seems to be an area where marketing departments run roughshod over real-world practicality and safety. But I guess you can't blame BYD for playing the same dubious game that everyone else is playing...

 

[supersnoop]

Knowing how the truck market works, they are saving those locking diffs for the inevitable “Shark Ultimate All Terrain Carnivore Edition”

 

[PiSigma]

BYD should avoid getting into such a situation again in future , especially in building factories overseas . Their brand name is in the picture here.
They should make sure they adapt stringent work standards in their factories and standardize rules their contractors should meet if they want to win building contracts with them overseas. So hope they will learn from this debacle and take stricter measures to supervise their contractors meet their standards in future

Brazil is extremely corrupt, this is unavoidable when not enough bribes are paid. Also Brazil is a CiA playground.

 

[henrik]

Ford EV leader leaving automaker amid new restructuring efforts​

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!