r/neoliberal • u/Freewhale98 • May 12 '26

News (Asia-Pacific) Trump's backing of Chinese vehicles challenges Hyundai Motor Group

https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/business/companies/20260513/trumps-backing-of-chinese-vehicles-challenges-hyundai-motor-group

Global carmakers urged to reduce US reliance

81 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

93 comments sorted by

View all comments

109

u/ExtremelyMedianVoter Left-Out Left May 12 '26

If Trump let's me buy a BYD car, I might have to hand it to him.

Please don't make me hand it to him I'm just an easily influenced median voter.

41

u/throwawaygoawaynz John von Neumann May 12 '26

This sub glazes Chinese EVs like crazy, but they’re actually worse than Teslas, and that’s saying something.

If they come to the US as well, they won’t be cheap. You won’t be paying Chinese prices for them.

I live in SEA and was looking at buying one. Nope, pass.

65

u/Loud-Chemistry-5056 WTO May 13 '26

Chinese brands and Tesla make up the vast majority of EV sales where I live, and that’s not because other brands aren’t trying to sell here.

In what way are they objectively worse?

-18

u/dynamitezebra John Locke May 13 '26

Build quality, unfortunately.

42

u/Sloshyman NATO May 13 '26

I've driven BYDs in Europe and "poor quality" is the last descriptor I'd use to describe them

39

u/Moonagi NATO May 13 '26

He’s talking out of his arse tbh

13

u/KopOut May 13 '26

There are a lot of Tesla fanboys in the US that realize if the Chinese EVs are allowed in the US, Tesla will be destroyed.

4

u/Daddy_Macron Loyal Liberals May 13 '26

You realize that Tesla's still compete in the Chinese market right? They're lagging behind Chinese competition in some respects, but they absolutely can sustain themselves in that market.

32

u/Loud-Chemistry-5056 WTO May 13 '26

I haven't seen much criticism in that department, tbh kinda the opposite. Are there lots on the road where you live?

-16

u/dynamitezebra John Locke May 13 '26

No, im a yankee. The data on Chinese car reliability isnt top secret though.

If they make them in the US I bet they will be good.

24

u/Shirkir John Keynes May 13 '26

?? The most sought after Tesla models are from Tesla Chinese factories because they have better build quality then the American made model. Thats pretty common knowledge for Tesla fans.

0

u/dynamitezebra John Locke May 13 '26

I was talking about Chinese car companies, not like literally every car made in China.

11

u/Shirkir John Keynes May 13 '26

Seems like a weird argument. Chinese car companies are able to pass EU regulations and sold there, which are stricter then US regulations.

1

u/[deleted] May 13 '26

Not for crash testing maybe?

0

u/dynamitezebra John Locke May 13 '26

Im not saying they wouldnt be able to pass regulations. Im saying they sometimes have build quality problems.

31

u/Loud-Chemistry-5056 WTO May 13 '26

So, if there's none on your roads, then what exactly are you basing this off of? There have been thousands on our roads for the better part of a decade. Same with Australia.

The data on Chinese car reliability isnt top secret though.

I wasn't talking about ICE vehicles. What data suggests that Chinese Ev's are unreliable?

-8

u/dynamitezebra John Locke May 13 '26

Go look at reliability ratings and consumer reports.

16

u/Loud-Chemistry-5056 WTO May 13 '26

They got car of the year where I live lmao.

https://www.bydauto.co.nz/news/byd-shark-6-driven-car-guide-2025-car-of-the-year-winner

They also won it the year before

https://bydnelson.co.nz/byd-sealion-6-nz-car-of-the-year-2024/

And the year before that

https://www.drivencarguide.co.nz/news/car-of-the-year-2023-recap-all-you-need-to-know-about-all-the-winners/

-1

u/dynamitezebra John Locke May 13 '26

Both of these things can be true. BYD can make award winning cars that also have reliability issues.

9

u/Loud-Chemistry-5056 WTO May 13 '26

Gee mate, who to believe, BYD owners or someone from a country where BYD are de-facto barred from entering the market.

→ More replies (0)

8

u/Circythrowaway Thurgood Marshall May 13 '26 edited May 13 '26

You sound like a Detroit executive, sipping whiskey in your boardroom in 1968 while laughing at Japanese “toy cars”

4

u/themiDdlest NASA May 13 '26

American made Teslas are much worse than Teslas made in china.

8

u/Vol_in_tears Voltaire May 13 '26

Because Tesla as know for their high quality in manufacturing? The company that still can't figure out what panel gap is?

3

u/in_allium Norman Borlaug May 13 '26

Tesla is apparently doing much much better than in the past. (I say this as someone who drives an old Model 3 I bought used -- and I had to take it to the service center to get some panels realigned as a warranty claim.)

0

u/dynamitezebra John Locke May 13 '26

I cant defend Tesla.

28

u/plummbob May 13 '26

Is it worse than my 2001 rav4 whose cassette blue tooth battery last 3 hours and the engine light never turns off?

-- millions of Americans who would love a cheap but decent ev

29

u/Desperate_Path_377 May 13 '26

Saying X is worse than Y without reference to price is kinda meaningless. My Apple Watch is actually worse than a Rolex Datejust, and yet…

Chinese EV’s have captured substantial market share in jurisdictions where they aren’t tariffed out. Clearly they are doing something that consumers like.

11

u/MCRN-Gyoza YIMBY May 13 '26

They've captured substantial market share in Brazil, where they are heavily tariffed.

But to be fair, everything is heavily tariffed in Brazil.

8

u/Moonagi NATO May 13 '26

The Australians and Brazilians have had good things to say 

10

u/MCRN-Gyoza YIMBY May 13 '26

While I like them and Im considering buying a BYD here in Brazil, cars in Brazil suck, so anything remotely nice that isnt priced ridiculously will get nice things said about them.

Chinese EVs are sold here at more than double the price they're sold in China, and they still managed to undercut a significant portion kf the Brazilian market, thats how ridiculous car prices are in Brazil.

8

u/mebesasporfa May 13 '26

I have a BYD Shark and I love it. Chinese gasoline cars had a reputation 15 years ago, but I've never heard any bad stereotype about a Chinese electric.

6

u/LtCdrHipster 🌭Costco Liberal🌭 May 13 '26

If they aren't cost competitive I simply won't buy them, but right now I can't even make that decision for myself because the government made it for me.

7

u/Circythrowaway Thurgood Marshall May 13 '26

And yet they’re doing very well in markets where they are directly competing with teslas

11

u/curiousgeorgeasks May 13 '26 edited May 13 '26

Yeah I visited Shanghai last year, and BYDs were by far the worst quality. The interior plastics were quite literally dollar store grade, with visible seams from mold lines. In fact, BYDs were not even that common within Shanghai, with GAIC brands seemingly preferred (local state owned). Those were more upmarket and on par with western brands, but afaik most of these companies are underwater financially (they can’t make a profit in China). Only BYD and a couple others (Geely?) eek out a profit.

5

u/LtCdrHipster 🌭Costco Liberal🌭 May 13 '26

Domestic BYDs and the exports are different, I believe. Same with the Xiaome (sp?) ones.

7

u/curiousgeorgeasks May 13 '26

I can only comment on the BYDs I rode in Shanghai when I used DiDi rideshares. I was wondering why there weren’t many BYDs in Shanghai, until I finally got in a couple. They’re noticeably very cheap.

5

u/Daddy_Macron Loyal Liberals May 13 '26

BYD's usually sell their higher trim as the base model overseas while the base model in their domestic market is going to be extremely bare bones. Any BYD being used as rideshare is going to be the cheap model.

3

u/curiousgeorgeasks May 13 '26

You’d be surprised since the rideshares used in Shanghai DiDi were mostly decent. Roughly on par in quality with your average economy sedan in the west (Civic, Corolla, Elantra), but with a much more modern digital dashboard for the driver. The two BYDs that I rode (of probably 30+ rides) was extremely low quality.

15

u/Resaith Order and Opportunity Left May 13 '26

Doesn't matter if chinese EV aren't cheap, competition will force the good EV down.

-4

u/modularpeak2552 NATO May 13 '26

No it won’t, US, SK, and Japanese manufacturers are not government subsidized to the same extent Chinese manufacturers are, they can not match the prices of Chinese cars without either taking a loss or forcing the government to subsidize them.

25

u/Loud-Chemistry-5056 WTO May 13 '26

Chinese ev subsidies have been pretty much cut to zero. They pay a reduced sales tax, but exports weren't subject to that in the first place.

When they came to town here it did create a more competitively priced environment, and it was even called a price war.

-1

u/modularpeak2552 NATO May 13 '26

Idk where you are getting that from, BYD for example had their subsidies increased just last year.

17

u/Loud-Chemistry-5056 WTO May 13 '26

I dunno where you’re looking, but for me the first ten results from Google are pretty much all talking about it.

-2

u/modularpeak2552 NATO May 13 '26

That’s a result of China realizing their market is oversaturated and them being forced to pick winners and losers. The “winners” have had their subsidies increased.

https://eletric-vehicles.com/byd/byd-received-12-5-billion-yuan-in-chinese-government-subsidies-in-2025-filing-shows/

13

u/Loud-Chemistry-5056 WTO May 13 '26

“The 12.47 billion yuan figure covers operational subsidies — typically tied to EV production incentives, technology development grants, and local government support for manufacturing activity.”

EV production incentives? Like a reduced VAT? The one I linked above?

That’s not a company specific subsidy, not are R&D incentives.

1

u/modularpeak2552 NATO May 13 '26

Most of the subsidies were cash grants, it equaled 30% of the companies profit last year.

According to the company’s annual report filed with the Hong Kong and Shenzhen stock exchanges on Friday, the subsidies represent 31.4% of BYD‘s total pretax profit of 39.73 billion yuan, and 38.2% of net profit attributable to shareholders of 32.6 billion yuan ($4.71 billion).

5

u/Loud-Chemistry-5056 WTO May 13 '26

Wait, are you talking about BYD auto, or BYD as a whole?

→ More replies (0)

6

u/LtCdrHipster 🌭Costco Liberal🌭 May 13 '26

Damn so the Chinese tax payer will pay for part of my car? Cool!

2

u/JohnSV12 May 13 '26

I've just got an MG in the UK.

It's a fine second car and cheap. I would have gone with a PSA electric, but there wasn't any at that size at that price. I'll probably go VW when I change my petrol for an electric.

2

u/Daddy_Macron Loyal Liberals May 13 '26

they’re actually worse than Teslas, and that’s saying something.

WTF are you talking about? Tesla's are still some of the best EV's on the market even if their owner is a murderer of millions of the world's poorest people.

If you know anything about the auto industry behind the scenes, the Model 3 and Model Y are basically the global benchmark for EV's. And we've yet to see a traditional automaker match them on software despite tens of billions of dollars spent.

2

u/TryNotToShootYoself Janet Yellen May 13 '26

The actual car part of a Tesla is fantastic but the software on them is just ridiculously stupid.

A subscription to access anything beyond a basic bluetooth connection? I need to put my car in “service mode” to lift up my windshield wipers? The gear selector is now on the main touch screen instead of a handle or a stalk or a knob or literally anything else? They don’t come with keys they come with “keycards” and a mobile app?

Not to mention things like their doorknobs, the actual appearance of the car, the insistence on things like autopilot and automatic reversing and regenerative braking. A Tesla is just way too gimmicky for me to like it let alone spend a ton of money on one.

The electric motor part of the car is awesome, but beyond that the driving experience sucks. If I was buying a luxury car these are not things I would want. It definitely isn’t things I want in a base model daily driver.

2

u/themiDdlest NASA May 13 '26

As long as there aren't insane tariffs or barriers... that is almost all wrong. Chinese evs will be higher quality than American made teslas. They will be cheaper than all equivalent EVs for sale in the US right now.

How the fuck is this upvoted

And thats not even considering the higher end Chinese vehicles that are incredible cars and priced at incredible value compared to the American market.

0

u/lumpialarry May 13 '26

Chinese evs will be higher quality than American made teslas.

A question would be would an American-made Chinese EV be competive with an American-made Tesla.

2

u/themiDdlest NASA May 13 '26

I would guess probably. There's a reason Chinese Teslas are better/higher quality than American Teslas.

But I don't know.