Tesla’s biggest competitor will soon sell an electric car for less than €20,000 in France

BYD, Tesla’s biggest competitor, already sells its electric cars in Europe. But the Chinese company intends to strike even harder, with production factories in Europe, and the marketing of its Seagull for less than 20,000 euros. The Chinese giant believes it can do better than Tesla in Europe in the coming years.

The invasion of Chinese car manufacturers in Europe is only just beginning. They are more and more present, but still have a handicap: production in China which adds many costs to sell their car in Europe.

BYD, Tesla’s biggest competitor, hopes to be able to remove this constraint as quickly as possible, in order to sell an electric car for around 20,000 euros.

BYD Seagull for less than 20,000 euros

We already know this car, it’s the BYD Seagull, sold for around 10,000 euros in China. A very small electric car, which is selling like hot cakes in China, thanks to its affordable price and its rather good technologies for the price.

For the moment, it is not sold in Europe. But the Financial Times tells us, through the voice of Michael Shu, the boss of BYD, that the BYD Seagull will soon be sold in Europe, “less than 20,000 euros”.

An ultra-competitive price, to compare with the 25,000 euros of the Renault 5 E-Tech, or the 23,990 euros of the Citroën ë-C3. But be careful, because these two models benefit from the ecological bonus, while the Seagull will be deprived of it, because of its Chinese production. Like the MG4, sold from 24,990 euros in France. We can also mention the new Dacia Spring, just under the 20,000 euro mark in France.

BYD wants to establish itself permanently in Europe

But BYD wants to go further. We already know that the Chinese company plans to build a factory in Europe. And more precisely in Hungary. It will be operational in 2025. But the boss of BYD is still hesitant to open a second European factory.

The objective? Do better than Tesla, by selling more electric cars in Europe than its main competitor. The European factory will allow BYD to benefit from the ecological bonus in France, but also to lower import costs (and in particular customs).

And to show that his company does not joke with Europe, the boss of BYD announced that the investment in the network, dealerships, factories and marketing was colossal, with several billion euros spent in the years to come to Europe.

Will BYD want to set up its second factory in France? The idea cannot be ruled out, since Bruno Le Maire, Minister of the Economy, declared that “Chinese manufacturers are welcome in France” targeting BYD.

However, the boss of BYD did not announce the planned arrival date of the Seagull in Europe. If you want to know more about the BYD Seagull, don’t hesitate to take a look at our articles on the subject.