Nah, Chinese EV won't sell here.
From my time in product planning for an OEM that just replaced its CEO,
Chinese EV can't meet buyers needs for a variety of reason & re-engineering cost is significant.
The result of them launching is commercial failure worse than BZ4x.
The product will be seen as the equivalent of Mitsubishi Mirage/Nissan Versa... except at the price of a Camry Hybrid.
The tariff just buy some time for North American OEM to build out their supply chain & recoup investment cost.
I really think Ford, GM, Toyota next-gen, MB, BMW, and VW w/ Rivian are going to offer much better products than China in 5 years.
Quote:
- North American buyers intensely brand sensitive
- Budget buyers rely on leasing/financing, Chinese EV got terrible residual, crazy insurance cost, and awful leasing in EU
- High end buyer will keep churning $400/mo MB and BMW leases
- Chinese EV battery tech largely blows and won't charge in the cold, especially current gen BYD blade
- Chinese EV not gonna pass American crash test, which require significantly different airbag/crash structure design
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