[Auto/Moto] BYD will price its European plug-in hybrids close to ICE rivals

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BYD plans to sell plug-in hybrid cars in Europe closer to the prices of their pure combustion-engine rivals rather than full-electric vehicles, a top executive from the automaker said. BYD has so far focused on sales of battery-electric vehicles in Europe, but later this year the automaker will launch the Seal U DM-i midsize SUV plug-in hybrid as it seeks to take advantage of growing demand for PHEVs. The company will follow that with another PHEV next year, Michael Shu, managing director for BYD Europe, said at the Financial Times Future of the Car Summit on Thursday. BYD said in December that it will open its first European passenger car factory in Szeged, Hungary. The company said the plant will build full-electric cars and plug-in hybrids for the European market. BYD will start operations at its Hungary plant "before 2026," Shu told Automotive News Europe in March, without giving a precise date.Chinese brands are weighing production in Europe, in part to defuse tensions over an EU probe into Beijing’s support for the EV value chain in China. In December, France pulled EV subsidies for cars built in China; sales of models such as the MG4 and Dacia Spring have fallen sharply this year. The EU has said that it could impose punitive sanctions on Chinese-built cars if it finds evidence of unfair competition, although German automakers have opposed that, warning of a dangerous trade war. BYD is aiming for a market share of 5 percent of EV sales in Europe before starting production at the Hungary plant, Shu told Automotive News Europe in March. Last year BYD sold 15,644 cars in the region, all of which were full-electric cars, according to figures from market researchers Dataforce. First-quarter sales were 7,701, a 717 percent increase over last year, led by the Atto 3 compact SUV. The company’s share of the European car market was 0.46 percent for the quarter, making it the second-biggest Chinese brand in the region behind MG, owned by SAIC.Shu said BYD wanted to become a leading electric vehicle maker in Europe by 2030. "We are confident that we could be in a leading position (in Europe) by 2030," Shu said at the Financial Times conference. PHEV sales jump in Europe Plug-in hybrid sales in Europe grew 10 percent in the first quarter to 253,864, led by the Volvo XC60, Ford Kuga and Mercedes GLC. Plug-in hybrid sales are predominately driven by premium brands, which have turned to the technology to replace diesel for mainly larger cars. Plug-in hybrids and diesel drivetrains are a way of lowering fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. PHEV technology has come under fire from environmental groups, who say their real world emissions are higher than in tests. The European Commission’s first report based on in-car monitoring, released in March, found that CO2 emissions were 350 percent higher than test figures. The European Union will adjust the emissions test in 2025 to reduce the assumed electric-only distance driven, and could further reduce that in 2027 after analysing more recent real-world data. Automakers are fitting bigger batteries to newer models to keep the low CO2 figures for PHEVs under the new WLTP rules. BYD says that its Dual Mode, or DM, plug-in hybrids are used in full-electric mode 65 percent of the time, based on data from one million cars driven a total of 9.7 billion km (six billion miles). 50-50 split in China BYD sells only BEVs and plug-in hybrids in China after ending sales of pure ICE drivetrains last year. Sales were evenly split between the two technologies last year, BYD has said. The brand was largest seller in China in 2023, beating Volkswagen for the first time. Toyota is considering using BYD’s DM technology in its hybrid cars in China as part of an expanded relationship between the two companies, a report in the Beijing-based Caijing magazine said on Wednesday. BYD unveiled its first PHEV, the F3DM, at the 2008 Geneva auto show. The technology is now in its fifth generation, Shu said. BYD also considering overhauling the Seagull small EV to allow sales in Europe, Shu told the Financial TImes summit. The Seagull was launched at the Shanghai auto show last year and has since become a hit in China, with prices starting below 10,000 euros before taxes. “We have received a lot of requests [for the car] via our dealer partner from our customers,” Shu said. “But there is lot of engineering work we have to do.” BYD could also open a R&D center in Europe to complement the factory, Shu said.

https://europe.autonews.com/automakers/byd-adds-phev-production-hungary-factory