Their cars also look good. I will probably consider BYD for my next car. I don't like not having dashboard in front of me (like Tesla is doing right now).
The part you're referring to is called an instrument cluster traditionally, or more modernly, a driver's display. Teslas do have dashboards, despite their commitment to minimalism. :)
I actually love having the dash off to the side. My eyes need to adjust focus less, and the clean symmetrical interior is gorgeous in my opinion.
That said, the BYD airliner-inspired interior looks great too. I am probably buying a BYD after I'm done with my Tesla, though not because of the car itself. The Tesla car is terrific, but the Tesla service is horrible.
By buying BYD, you are supporting the Chinese government, which is actively supporting Russia [1]
By buying BYD, you are supporting Chinese government's deep subsidization of BYD and its heavy loss per vehicle, to dump on and destroy US/Europe/Japan auto industries and its labor forces
Most people buying BYD abroad are not in those countries. Australians, for example, don't very much care if they are destroying US/European/Japan auto industries, and are sort of liberated by the lack of any car manufacturing in their own country.
well, Australians should care. Australia is part of aukus which is security pact along with US and UK meant to push back against China. Less they've forgotten, Australia was engaged with trade war with China earlier when China slapped unreasonable tariffs on Australia due to Australia wanting to investigate the origin of covid that killed thousands of Australians.
They just want affordable cars, price is going to win over anything else. A bunch of anti trade US folks aren't going to move the empathy needle with them. The developing world that BYD is mainly selling to is going to care even less.
As an Australian, I can tell you our view is more nuanced than "we are a vassal state of the USA".
> Less they've forgotten, Australia was engaged with trade war with China earlier
Oh, we haven't forgotten. The war was triggered by madness from both sides. Madness from someone taking violent exception to a nickname like Pooh is to be expected. Whatever your private opinions on that, it's understood here one must be pragmatic in your public positions when dealing with such people when they are your biggest trading partner. Even innocent mistakes could cost you billions. Our prime minister fanning conspiracy theories about the origins of COVID wasn't an innocent mistake, it was fiscal insanity. He was ousted in a landslide at the next election. And despite China being being our biggest trading partner, we won that war. It hurt China far more than it hurt us. It turned out Australia is far better and faster at rejigging its international trade than China.
> Australia wanting to investigate the origin of covid that killed thousands of Australians.
Australian's see it differently. What hurt us was the refusal of OECD countries to honour agreements to ship vaccines we had bought and paid for. With no vaccines (the one we did produce ourselves, AstraZeneca, got unapproved after we had produced huge quantities of it) we had to shut down internal borders, trade and large parts of our economies to prevent the spread, until we could get the vaccines. It was a difficult time. Yet despite those challenges, Australian emerged from COVID sooner, and with less economic damage that most other countries.
But you are right in thinking Australian's in general are anxious about what is happening in China. It's constantly in the news. I'd be stunned if Australian citizens weren't better informed on China is doing in the South China Sea, of it's real estate crash, and premier Xi's actions than USA citizens. But you know what? We watch what Trump is doing in the USA equally closely, and it causes us just as much anxiety. Trump closing the USA off from the rest of the world would likely have far worse consequences for us than a trade war with China that we won. When it comes to damage inflicted on it's citizens, nothing beats a countries own incompetent management. Trust me, we know. Or if you don't trust me ask someone from Türkiye, or Venezuela. On the up side, I do have a lot of faith in the USA's political institutions. They've survived a lot worse than Trump.
There is a lot of animosity even from our closest allies that Americans are often too arrogant and take respect for granted. We are just allies, we agree with some things, but those countries are going to go their separate ways if it fits their needs better.
Sure, that happened with Europe, when Europeans laughed at trump wanting to terminate nato for not contributing to their promised defense spending. then Russia attacked. Europeans are now firmly allied with US against Russia and China.
When China attacks Australia again, either via a trade war again, or a territory war like Chinese ships water torpedoing Philippine ships or China killing Indian soldiers, perhaps Australians will then change their mind, at least the ones that had dollar signs only in their head.
People respected Australia before for standing up to China and calling China out for covid origins.
> then Russia attacked. Europeans are now firmly allied with US against Russia and China.
Trump said he would use Russia to destroy Europe, and was more interested in blackmailing Ukraine then helping them ward of Russian aggression. It’s no wonder Trump is so popular in Russia and hated very much in rest of Europe.
I think this is a big problem in the EV race. Most Western companies are still unwilling to get their hands dirty, even as China's grip on raw materials and refining has become a serious geopolitical threat.
You can build a manufacturing base, but can you also "build" the workforce willing to work for manufacturing sector wages while keeping the prices competitive?
China hasn't been a low-wage country since 2016. They're able to continue to build cheaply because they built an efficient and comprehensive supply chain with increasing levels of automation and robotization. BYD factories are full of robots.
1. Wages in the US are still way higher than China.
2. Cost of manufacturing something is much more than just raw workers' wages. There's environmental regulations and protections as well, insurances, taxes, pension contributions, etc all being significantly less in China than the US or the west.
Especially the environmental part. Also work accidents. If a worker in China looses a thumb, it's no biggie, If a worker in the US does, he'll sue and win a 6 figure payout.
All these make manufacturing in the US much more expensive even if wages were to be the same.
