this post was submitted on 25 Apr 2025
703 points (100.0% liked)

World News

46162 readers
2919 users here now

A community for discussing events around the World

Rules:

Similarly, if you see posts along these lines, do not engage. Report them, block them, and live a happier life than they do. We see too many slapfights that boil down to "Mom! He's bugging me!" and "I'm not touching you!" Going forward, slapfights will result in removed comments and temp bans to cool off.

We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.

All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.


Lemmy World Partners

News !news@lemmy.world

Politics !politics@lemmy.world

World Politics !globalpolitics@lemmy.world


Recommendations

For Firefox users, there is media bias / propaganda / fact check plugin.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/media-bias-fact-check/

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

Summary

  • Volkswagen beat Tesla in European EV sales across the first three months of 2025, data shows.
  • Registrations for VW EVs are up more than 150%, while Tesla lost huge ground.
  • However, the Model Y and Model 3 remain Europe's top two most-registered EVs.
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] Kecessa@sh.itjust.works 31 points 2 days ago (8 children)

Freaking hell Lemmy has a huge hard on for BYD.

[–] dickalan@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

It’s not just Lemmy. Also Reddit

[–] Kecessa@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 day ago

I don't go there anymore so I don't know 🤷

[–] trk@aussie.zone 9 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Can't speak for other countries, but in Australia BYD is smashing it.

They represent incredible value for money and it's not like we've got a local industry to protect - our conservative government made sure of that.

We're already the world's dumping ground for shit vehicles that don't meet emissions standards, so having a non-Elon Musk EV alternative is something people are grabbing with both hands. We bought a BYD Seal Performance for $70k AUD a little over a year ago. For that money you get an incredibly comfortable sedan that does 500k on a charge, costs about $1 per 100km to run, and does 0-100 in 3.8 seconds.

EU vehicles are crazy overpriced by comparison, and because they try and position Mercedes / BMW / VW as luxury brands here the servicing and repair costs are through the roof. Part availability also sucks, with everything being a 6+ week lead time. We've owned European vehicles on several occasions and never again.

[–] Kecessa@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] trk@aussie.zone 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Like what?

Korea has a few (Hyundai, Kia / same,same) but the only Japanese options are [P]HEV or the Toyota BZ4X which is... ugly... if it didn't have a Toyota badge I don't think they'd sell any of them. Few old Leafs still hanging in there, but if you want to go more than 100k at a time that's them ruled out.

[–] Kecessa@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 day ago

300km+ range for the Leaf these days and they've got the Ariya that has over 400km of range, but I just checked and they don't seem to offer either in Australia...

Guess you're truly stuck with Chinese and Korean models then...

[–] frankgrimeszz@lemmy.world 11 points 2 days ago

I only brought them up because I saw a news report that their dealerships are popping up and their starting price is much lower than Tesla. Like €17000.

[–] Track_Shovel@slrpnk.net 13 points 2 days ago

I've seen some videos on them. They look pretty nice but I worry about how they hold up and the build quality, as I would any relatively unestablished brand.

[–] finitebanjo@lemmy.world 3 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Not my part of lemmy, must just be Tankies or some shit.

[–] Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Don't want to protect elon musk's swastikar LLC with tariffs? Must be a tankie! Want to buy a cheap electric vehicle? tankie!

[–] eugenevdebs@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 13 hours ago

"Anyone who supports Tesla is now a Tankie. Anyone who is anti-Tarrifs is now a Tankie. Anyone who wants anything anti-Trump is a Tankie."

For the moment he had shut his ears to the remoter noises and was listening to the stuff that streamed out of the telescreen. It appeared that there had even been demonstrations to thank Big Brother for raising the chocolate ration to twenty grammes a week. And only yesterday, he reflected, it had been announced that the ration was to be REDUCED to twenty grammes a week. Was it possible that they could swallow that, after only twenty-four hours? Yes, they swallowed it.

[–] Wanderer@lemm.ee 0 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Fuck the Tankies fuck communism entirely, I just got back from Cambodia, got an economics degree and like capitalism, China's a bunch of dickheads.

BYD is going to change the world.

It's the classic incumbents move slow into new tech. Added with government investment, low labour costs, access to raw materials/adjacent industries, hungry growth focused companies, semi crazy workforce.

I haven't drove a BYD or even a electric car for that matter but reading the stats things are going to move fast and the rate they move is going to increase. I can see all the west companies largely losing their overseas market, other than luxury, inside cities. The world's moved on and people don't realise.

[–] finitebanjo@lemmy.world 0 points 16 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours ago) (1 children)

Nice try but true capitalists with economics degrees hate capitalism. There simply is no other system ever attempted.

China's capitalist move is to operate these electric car companies at or near a loss to push competitors out of the markets which would be unsustainable if they had to worry about human rights in the process.

[–] Wanderer@lemm.ee 0 points 14 hours ago* (last edited 13 hours ago)

Plenty of things have been tried.

Like communism has been tried multiple times. Every time was an unmitigated fucking disaster.

[–] weew@lemmy.ca 3 points 2 days ago

Because they present amazing value (at Chinese prices) and really advanced battery technology.

[–] IndustryStandard@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Chinese electric cars are great value.

[–] Kecessa@sh.itjust.works 21 points 2 days ago (5 children)

If you don't consider the impact that sending yet more manufacturing jobs to China will have in the long run and the fact that they have great value because what China is doing is called dumping and the goal is for them to have a monopoly so they can eventually increase prices without having any competitors.

[–] Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

If auto subsidies are dumping, the US has been dumping for ages.

[–] Kecessa@sh.itjust.works -1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Where did you see me mention that it's ok for the US to do it?

[–] Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

So, since china is evil and wrong for making an affordable car when elon doesn't want them to, who is allowed to make an affordable electric car?

[–] Kecessa@sh.itjust.works 0 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

Eh... What are you going on about? Dumping is wrong no matter who does it and there's more than Tesla and Chinese offerings on the market.

[–] Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world 2 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

Dumping is wrong no matter who does it

Right after biden put in his trumpian tariffs against an automaker to protect musk.

[–] Kecessa@sh.itjust.works 0 points 23 hours ago* (last edited 23 hours ago) (1 children)

If a country is dumping in your market and threatening your own industry you impose tariffs to compensate or you risk losing jobs and you'll have a much bigger issue to deal with.

I hope you're not the kind of person that complains about the middle class disappearing because right now you're defending what made it disappear.

Also, welcome to the world, which isn't just the US, this thread is about the European market where Biden didn't impose tariffs.

[–] Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world 1 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

I hope you’re not the kind of person that complains about the middle class disappearing because right now you’re defending what made it disappear.

Cheap cars aren't what killed the middle class.

Also, welcome to the world, which isn’t just the US, this thread is about the European market where Biden didn’t impose tariffs.

Nope. Just kicked open the door so trump could.

[–] Kecessa@sh.itjust.works -1 points 20 hours ago* (last edited 19 hours ago)

Opening the door to Chinese stuff and killing the manufacturing industry in North America and Europe is one of the main things that killed the middle class.

Trump didn't impose tariffs on China in Europe either.

You have a serious reading comprehension issue, you should go back up the chain and reread everything but this time take the time to actually understand the message.

[–] dickalan@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

That ship has sailed, like 50 years ago

[–] suigenerix@lemmy.world 16 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Yes, China dumps EVs on other markets.

But here are some extra insights to consider about the issue:

  • To curb dumping, many countries already have, or are introducing, high tariffs against Chinese EVs. Biden had a 100% tariff on EVs, Canada is 100%, India is 70-100%, the EU is up to 45%, Brazil is ramping up to 35%, etc.
  • Around 90% of all EVs China produces are sold in China. So even if EV dumping ends, it'll have only a minor effect on production
  • Dumping is caused by over supply of Chinese EVs at the moment. Some countries, like the US under Trump policies, are deliberately attempting to drive down EV demand, further adding to the issue. And as with all markets, over supply can't be sustained indefinitely, so it's predicted that multiple Chinese EV manufacturers will go under or merge. This is normal in evolving markets
  • China is innovating much faster with EV tech, especially with battery technology. Meanwhile the US under Trump is removing incentives for EV production and ownership, and causing significant market uncertainty. This will have a far greater effect on Chinese dominance of the technology than dumping
  • China is in the majority of countries in offering government subsidies and tax breaks for emerging products, especially on things like R&D and infrastructure
  • The US and other countries also dump products on a significantly larger scale. For example, the US government subsidizes corn which is sold to world markets under production cost. Exports of corn from the US in 2024 were ~$14 billion, while Chinese EV exports were under $5 billion

None of this is intended to condone China or any country dumping products, but as a warning about having overly simplified reactions to an issue without understanding the bigger picture.

[–] Don_alForno@feddit.org 8 points 2 days ago (2 children)
[–] Kecessa@sh.itjust.works 5 points 2 days ago (1 children)

"They're much cheaper than comparable cars!"

People never think about where the savings come from, as long as they can buy stuff.

Seeing people who call themselves left wing defending globalism will always be funny to people like me who are left wing and were protesting against it back in the day.

[–] Don_alForno@feddit.org 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

On the other hand, the right in America is in the process of destroying globalism and is rightly mocked for it because they themselves are suffering the worst.

[–] Kecessa@sh.itjust.works 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

The issue is the way they're trying to put an end to it. A plan like the government giving priority to local manufacturers and forcing international bidders to build factories in the country is one thing. Imposing tariffs without any plans to compensate locally is just plain dumb.

[–] AA5B@lemmy.world 3 points 2 days ago

And yet they’re not just going about it the most boneheaded way they can think of, but have been actively killing off Biden era incentives to do what they claim they want.

If they actually cared about manufacturing locally, they would support those incentives, and support the infrastructure bill

[–] IndustryStandard@lemmy.world -3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Damn I have not heard about the Chinese enslaving black Africans to work at plantations yet.

[–] boredtortoise@lemm.ee 1 points 22 hours ago

They're doing a lot of exploitation in Africa. Look it up if you truly haven't heard

[–] Blablablabum@lemmy.zip 0 points 2 days ago

Well, they do make pretty nice cars.. I have a dolphin, and it is great value for the money :)