(13 May 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Livonia, Michigan - 3 April 2024
1. Various of a BYD Seagull electric vehicle as seen positioned inside Caresoft Global’s facility
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Terry Woychowski, Caresoft Global:
++PARTIALLY COVERED++
“We're looking at a BYD Seagull. This vehicle was recently introduced and kind of caught the auto industry, really caught their attention. It's an immediate threat to our European customers as they see it coming into their shores. Here in North America, we look at it and say: ‘Though it's not homologated, with relatively modest investments, they most likely could. And it could become competitive threat here.’ We bought the vehicle, bought the vehicle in China. But because we have a global presence, we're able to ship the vehicle, and we shipped it here. When you drive it, you can drive in our parking lot. You cannot drive it on the road. It is not legal in our country, and we don't have license plate on it as a result.”
3. Various of the Seagull’s battery
4. A Caresoft Global employee closes the vehicle’s hood
5. Various of the Seagull being driven in Caresoft’s parking lot
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Terry Woychowski, Caresoft Global:
++FULLY COVERED++
“Because they're so highly vertically integrated, at their labor rates, in their process, in their environment, a tremendous cost advantage. And so, that's why they're bringing forward a vehicle priced in this $11,000 range.”
7. Various of the Seagull making its way around the parking lot
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Terry Woychowski, Caresoft Global:
++PARTIALLY COVERED++
“So, when you put that in perspective, it's just like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is really staggering.’ And I think it's a clarion call to the industry. This is the benchmark, this is what we have to look at.”
9. Various of the Seagull being backed up and taken into the parking lot
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Terry Woychowski, Caresoft Global:
++PARTIALLY COVERED++
“The challenge right now: ‘How do I make an EV that functions, one that meets all its requirements -- it's safe, it performs, it's reliable -- all the things that we want in our products?’ And the bigger question now: ‘How do I do it profitably?’ Well, it seems to be there's a solution right here that we can study and ought to be studying to exhaustion to really understand what can we do.”
11. The Seagull drives past
STORYLINE:
A low-priced electric car called the Seagull has American automakers and politicians trembling with fear.
The car is made by Chinese conglomerate BYD and sells for around $11,000 in China, yet it drives well and is put together with craftsmanship that rivals U.S.-made electric vehicles that cost three times as much.
The Seagull isn’t coming to America’s shores anytime soon, and it likely would sell for more than 11 grand if it did.
Still, the threat looms, because it would be attractive for many U.S. buyers who are looking for cheap transportation as inflation eats into their household budgets.
BYD already has a factory in California that builds electric buses, and it has reportedly been looking for a factory site in Mexico to take advantage of its North American free trade agreement.
The company isn't selling cars in the U.S. just yet, largely due to 27.5% tariffs on the sale price of Chinese vehicles when they arrive at ports. Donald Trump slapped on the bulk of the tariff, 25%, when he was president, and it was kept in place under Joe Biden.
U.S. politicians and manufacturers already see Chinese EVs as a serious threat.
“This is the benchmark, this is what we have to look at,” he said.
Find out more about AP Archive: www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter: / ap_archive
Facebook: / aparchives ​​
Instagram: / apnews
You can license this story through AP Archive: www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...