BYD’s bold move in Germany could spell big trouble for Volkswagen
China’s leading EV maker, BYD, is making big moves to gain a foothold in Europe. BYD’s latest deal could spell big trouble for Volkswagen in Germany.
BYD is taking over its distributor in Germany, allowing it to sell its cars directly in Europe’s largest auto market.
On Friday, the Chinese auto giant officially signed an agreement with Hedin Mobility Group to buy out its subsidiary, Heden Electric Mobility.
Over the past two years, Heden Electric has imported vehicles and spare parts for BYD to sell in Germany. However, the move will give it more control over pricing and other key parts of distribution. BYD will now be able to sell its cars directly to buyers in Germany and set prices on its own terms.
“Together with its retail partners, BYD will further extend outstanding customer services and warranty support in Germany,” BYD’s executive vice president, Stella Li, said.
In addition to gaining control of distribution, BYD will also take over two flagship stores in Stuttgart and Frankfurt, Germany.
BYD is on the move in Germany
Anders Hedin, CEO of Hedin Mobility Group, explained, “The foundation is now in place to scale up volumes, and we look forward to continuing this journey in Germany together with BYD as a dealer.”
The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2024. As part of its long-term partnership, Hedin will still act as BYD’s dealer and retailer in the Swedish market.
Although no prices were revealed, Germany’s Handelsblatt reported it could be in the “low double-digit million” range with outstanding debts demanded by Hedin.
BYD’s big move is part of its ambitious plans to expand in Europe. BYD aims to control 5% of the European auto market by 2026. Germany will be a crucial part of achieving this. However, as of the end of July, the Chinese automaker accounted for a minor 0.1% with only 1,432 vehicle registrations in Germany.
That’s a far cry from the 120,000 BYD aims to sell in the country by 2026. Perhaps, as Hedin’s CEO claimed, more control over pricing and distribution will help ramp up output.
BYD is among several Chinese automakers, including XPeng and SAIC’s MG, with plans to expand in Europe. Meanwhile, EVs from China accounted for just 9.9% of European electric car sales last month.
The move comes after the EU announced plans last week to cut BYD’s EV import rate from China to 17% from 17.4%.
Electrek’s Take
Although BYD has struggled to gain traction in Europe, sales are expected to pick up as new models roll out.
Taking control over distribution in Germany is a big win for the company. BYD can now set prices with more flexibility on availability.
According to the latest European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) figures, EV registrations in Germany fell 36.8% last month. The drop dragged Europe’s EV market share down to 12.1% from 13.5% a year ago.
Volkswagen was among those with lower sales in July (-2.2%). The Volkswagen brand had 6.1% fewer vehicle registrations with its market share slipping to 10.8% in July from 11.1% a year ago.
The lower sales come as Volkswagen aggressively seeks to cut costs. It’s even considering closing Audi’s assembly plant in Brussels, which would be its first plant closure in 26 years.
Meanwhile, Volvo led Europe’s new car registration growth, with over 22,000 vehicles sold in July, up 36.7% year over year. Volvo’s cheapest EV, the EX30, is the main growth driver, with over 47,100 models registered through July.
With the ability to set prices, BYD may be able to match Volvo’s growth. According to research from Rhodium Group, BYD earns 14,300 euros ($15,400) on each Seal U model sold in Europe. That’s even more than in China with a 1,300 euro ($1,400) profit per unit sold.
Even with higher tariffs, BYD has the flexibility to offer lower prices. Does Volkswagen have the freedom? It’s not likely.
It will be interesting to see how the deal impacts BYD’s sales in Germany next year. After topping Honda and Nissan to become the seventh largest automaker globally in Q2, BYD looks to overseas markets to boost growth.
Source: Handelsblatt, Hedin Mobility Group
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Germany’s largest offshore wind farm under construction, EnBW’s He Dreiht, just hit a big milestone: The first enormous turbine is now up in the North Sea.
He Dreiht – which means “it spins” in Low German – is using Vestas’s massive 15 megawatt (MW) turbines, the first project in the world to install them. Just one spin of one of the rotors can generate enough electricity to power four households for an entire day.
When it’s finished, He Dreiht will have 64 mega turbines cranking out 960 megawatts (MW) of clean power – enough to supply around 1.1 million homes. And it’s being built without any government subsidies.
EnBW, one of Germany’s major energy companies, has been working in offshore wind for more than 15 years, but He Dreiht is their biggest project yet. “It will play a key role in helping us to significantly grow our renewable energy output from 6.6 GW to over 10 GW by 2030,” said Michael Class, who heads up EnBW’s generation portfolio development.
The project is a win for Vestas, too. “With the installation of the first V236-15.0 MW, we have reached an important milestone for both the He Dreiht project and our offshore ramp-up, which helps Germany build a more secure, affordable, and sustainable energy system,” said Nils de Baar, president of Vestas Northern & Central Europe.
He Dreiht is located about 85 kilometers (53 miles) northwest of Borkum and 110 kilometers (68 miles) west of Helgoland. At peak times, more than 500 workers will be out at sea building the farm, using a fleet of more than 60 ships. EnBW’s offshore team in Hamburg is running the show.
The installation process is a major operation. The 64 foundations were already set in the seabed last year. Parts for the turbines are loaded onto the installation vessel Wind Orca in Esbjerg, Denmark, and shipped out in a 12-hour journey to the construction site. From there, the turbines are lifted into place. Meanwhile, crews are also working on internal wind farm cabling.
A partner consortium made up of Allianz Capital Partners, AIP, and Norges Bank Investment Management owns 49.9% of the shares in He Dreiht.
Read more: Trump admin halts $5 billion NY offshore wind project mid-build
To limit power outages and make your home more resilient, consider going solar with a battery storage system. In order to find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. They have hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and you share your phone number with them.
Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisers to help you every step of the way. Get started here. –trusted affiliate link*
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Tesla has released a quick update about its Tesla Semi factory in Nevada. It says that it is on track for volume production of the electric semi truck in 2026.
The Tesla Semi was first scheduled to go into production in 2019, but it has faced numerous delays.
Now, it appears that there is finally some momentum to bring it to volume production.
For the last two years, Tesla has been working to build a new factory next to Gigafactory Nevada, where it builds the battery packs and drive units for most of its electric vehicles built in North America.
Today, Tesla released a “progress update on the factory, confirming that it finished building and it’s now working on deploying the production lines:
Tesla had previously mentioned aiming for volume production by 2025, but it is now only talking about starting production toward the end of the year and ramping up next year.
The automaker reiterated its planned production capacity of 50,000 units.
We recently reported that an early Tesla Semi customer, Ryder, stated that the electric truck program is experiencing more delays and a price increase described as “dramatic.”
They now expect to take deliveries of their first trucks later in 2026 and said that the price has increased “dramatically,” leading them to scale back their pilot program from 42 to 18 Tesla Semi trucks.
When originally unveiling the Tesla Semi in 2017, the automaker mentioned prices of $150,000 for a 300-mile range truck and $180,000 for the 500-mile version. Tesla also took orders for a “Founder’s Series Semi” at $200,000.
However, Tesla didn’t update the prices when launching the “production version” of the truck in late 2022. Price increases have been speculated, but the company has never confirmed them.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Vietnamese solar panel maker Boviet Solar just opened the doors to its first US factory — a huge new PV module plant in Greenville, North Carolina.
The company dropped $294 million into the state-of-the-art facility, which will pump out Boviet’s Gamma Series monofacial and Vega Series bifacial solar panels. They’re using advanced PERC and N-Type solar cell tech, which basically means these panels are built to deliver higher efficiency and better performance across residential, commercial, industrial, and utility-scale projects.
The Greenville factory’s first phase is now online with an annual PV module output capacity of 2 gigawatts (GW). For Phase 2, which is scheduled to come online in the second half of 2026, Boviet will invest another $100 million to add 600,000 square feet and ramp up to another 2 GW. It will make high-efficiency solar cells.
Once both phases are complete, Boviet’s campus will cover more than 1 million square feet of manufacturing and R&D space. It’s one of the biggest clean energy manufacturing projects North Carolina has ever seen.
The jobs impact is significant, too. The first phase will create 460 skilled local jobs. Phase 2 is expected to add another 908, bringing the total to over 1,300 direct jobs, plus nearly 2,000 more indirect jobs across the region. That’s good news for Pitt County’s economy, real estate market, and workforce training programs.
“This facility is not just creating jobs, but creating opportunity, innovation, and a stronger foundation for eastern North Carolina,” said Senator Kandie Smith. Governor Josh Stein added that Boviet Solar’s move shows how North Carolina is leading the way in clean energy growth.
Read more: Thomas Built Buses debuts its next-gen electric school bus
If you’re an electric vehicle owner, charge up your car at home with rooftop solar panels. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing on solar, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. They have hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.
Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisers to help you every step of the way. Get started here. –ad*
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business3 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway