The BYD (EV) Thread

I'm all for Chinese cars taking over and all, but seems BYD was very quick to learn not only how to make decent cars, but also how to charge eye watering prices

BYD Seal, BMW performance, BMW price tag at a cool 1 bar entry point :sick:

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Rola BYD | New | BYD Seal | From R 999,900

Electrified Ingenuity. Innovation meets Acceleration. Buy yours now at Rola BYD
www.rolabyd.co.za www.rolabyd.co.za
 
NarrowBandFtw said:
I'm all for Chinese cars taking over and all, but seems BYD was very quick to learn not only how to make decent cars, but also how to charge eye watering prices

BYD Seal, BMW performance, BMW price tag at a cool 1 bar entry point :sick:

www.rolabyd.co.za

Rola BYD | New | BYD Seal | From R 999,900

Electrified Ingenuity. Innovation meets Acceleration. Buy yours now at Rola BYD
www.rolabyd.co.za www.rolabyd.co.za
Click to expand...
Me thinks you might have lost touch with current car prices

 
NarrowBandFtw said:
those are M-badged cars, the "normal" 3 series starts from R920k new ... granted it's a dog slow 3 series though

also not comparing EV to EV only, BYD essentially only has EVs, BMW has cars with more traditional engines too
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The "plain" i4 starts at R1.5m, the M is from R1.75m.

BYD has stacks of ICE cars too, although in SA they've only launched EV and PHEV.

The Seal is a far superior car to an entry level 3 series, for much the same price.
 
Speedster said:
The Seal is a far superior car to an entry level 3 series
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that I can agree with

Speedster said:
for much the same price.
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and that part I have a problem with, of course they're free to charge whatever they like, but I don't think they'll do particularly well in this market if they charge BMW prices, many who don't know about performance or driving dynamics etc just care about the badge ... and if a BMW badge costs the same as that fongkong badge guess which one gets the sale 9 times out of 10

same thing for the Yangwang U9, great, they've shown they can take on giants like Porsche, Ferrari etc ... but even the direct conversion of its China pricing puts it in the same price category ... fickle rich people with more money than sense ... are they going to want that Yangwang badge or the 100+ year pedigree of Porsche / Ferrari for the same money?
 
NarrowBandFtw said:
that I can agree with


and that part I have a problem with, of course they're free to charge whatever they like, but I don't think they'll do particularly well in this market if they charge BMW prices, many who don't know about performance or driving dynamics etc just care about the badge ... and if a BMW badge costs the same as that fongkong badge guess which one gets the sale 9 times out of 10

same thing for the Yangwang U9, great, they've shown they can take on giants like Porsche, Ferrari etc ... but even the direct conversion of its China pricing puts it in the same price category ... fickle rich people with more money than sense ... are they going to want that Yangwang badge or the 100+ year pedigree of Porsche / Ferrari for the same money?
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Anybody who gets in a R1m BMW and in a R1m seal will see the difference in seconds. To get something remotely similar from BMW they'd need to move up above R1.5m
 
Speedster said:
Anybody who gets in a R1m BMW and in a R1m seal will see the difference in seconds. To get something remotely similar from BMW they'd need to move up above R1.5m
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agreed, but the price tag and badge comparison happens before you get in, I'd bet for many potential buyers that could be the reason not to get in at all

just look at how many 320i BMW's are on the road, it's complete trash, shouldn't even be called a BMW, and yet it sells like hotcakes ... the only reason for that is badge envy
 
NarrowBandFtw said:
agreed, but the price tag and badge comparison happens before you get in, I'd bet for many potential buyers that could be the reason not to get in at all

just look at how many 320i BMW's are on the road, it's complete trash, shouldn't even be called a BMW, and yet it sells like hotcakes ... the only reason for that is badge envy
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If you're going for badge envy, maybe it's just me, but I think the BYD badge has more
 
Speedster said:
If you're going for badge envy, maybe it's just me, but I think the BYD badge has more
Click to expand...
yeah that would be a minority opinion, the car offers more, the brand not ... at least not yet

I'd be dead keen to buy a Chinese car next and stick it to the Germans, but I'd still need to be paying a reasonable price, not the German pricing
 
NarrowBandFtw said:
yeah that would be a minority opinion, the car offers more, the brand not ... at least not yet

I'd be dead keen to buy a Chinese car next and stick it to the Germans, but I'd still need to be paying a reasonable price, not the German pricing
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You're somehow missing the facts here. The BYD is at least R500k cheaper than the German equivalent.
 
Speedster said:
You're somehow missing the facts here. The BYD is at least R500k cheaper than the German equivalent.
Click to expand...
the badge, remember:
Speedster said:
the BYD badge has more
Click to expand...
the badge does not have more, what is a badge anyway? it is pedigree and branding, nothing more

the fact that the BYD car has more than equally priced BMW cars does not mean it's badge magically has now erased 100 years of marketing and douche-bag posing, it has not

BMW's brand recognition / status / desirability remains superior for now
 
NarrowBandFtw said:
the badge, remember:

the badge does not have more, what is a badge anyway? it is pedigree and branding, nothing more

the fact that the BYD car has more than equally priced BMW cars does not mean it's badge magically has now erased 100 years of marketing and douche-bag posing, it has not

BMW's brand recognition / status / desirability remains superior for now
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You're conflating two points. You're saying you want to buy a BYD, but not at BMW prices and then saying the badge is all that matters.

In that case I guess you could get a Dolphin Surf for a heck of a lot less than any BMW
 
Speedster said:
You're conflating two points
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nah from where I'm sitting that's you, I'm specifically separating badge from capability, two entirely distinct considerations

Speedster said:
then saying the badge is all that matters
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never said that, the badge matters, and to what I suspect is the majority of people buying at 1 bar and up the badge can matter more than the rest ... never said where I stand specifically

Speedster said:
In that case I guess you could get a Dolphin Surf for a heck of a lot less than any BMW
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the Dolphin Surf is priced right though, going after much more of an entry level market with a great product ... when you take aim at BMW you are no longer playing in the entry level and you are judged differently
 
NarrowBandFtw said:
nah from where I'm sitting that's you, I'm specifically separating badge from capability, two entirely distinct considerations


never said that, the badge matters, and to what I suspect is the majority of people buying at 1 bar and up the badge can matter more than the rest ... never said where I stand specifically


the Dolphin Surf is priced right though, going after much more of an entry level market with a great product ... when you take aim at BMW you are no longer playing in the entry level and you are judged differently
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You think most people in the market for a higher end sedan would rather spend R1m on base spec 318 than a fully kitted Seal?
 
Flying high: Watch driverless BYD U9 supercar jump over 6-metre road crater

BYD is flying high - literally.

Not only has it overtaken Tesla to become the world's best-selling manufacturer of electric vehicles (EVs), but its U9 electric supercar has also achieved a remarkable technological feat by jumping over a giant road crater at speed.

In the clip, the Yangwang U9 supercar accelerates to around 120 km/h and, with no one behind the wheel, leaps over a series of obstacles, covering about 6 metres in the air on its own. The impressive sequence showcases the U9’s advanced active suspension and autonomous driving systems.

As a reminder, the U9 Xtreme recently set a new global production-car top-speed record of 496.22km/h at the ATP Automotive Testing Papenburg test track in Germany.

It dethroned the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+, which held the record for the world's fastest production petrol-powered car, achieving a top speed of 490.484 km/h in 2019.

The Yangwang U9 Xtreme features four ultra-high-speed motors that operate at up to 30,000rpm and produce a total of more than 2237kW, smaller 20-inch track-level semi-slick tyres from Giti, and revised DiSus-X suspension with specific tuning to cope with the increased stresses of circuit driving.

BYD overtakes Tesla

Tesla reported on Friday that its fourth-quarter 2025 sales fell short of expectations, allowing BYD to overtake it as the world’s largest electric vehicle producer in annual sales.

The US company, led by Elon Musk, delivered 418,227 vehicles in the final quarter, bringing its total for the year to around 1.64 million EVs.

 
NarrowBandFtw said:
that I can agree with


and that part I have a problem with, of course they're free to charge whatever they like, but I don't think they'll do particularly well in this market if they charge BMW prices, many who don't know about performance or driving dynamics etc just care about the badge ... and if a BMW badge costs the same as that fongkong badge guess which one gets the sale 9 times out of 10

same thing for the Yangwang U9, great, they've shown they can take on giants like Porsche, Ferrari etc ... but even the direct conversion of its China pricing puts it in the same price category ... fickle rich people with more money than sense ... are they going to want that Yangwang badge or the 100+ year pedigree of Porsche / Ferrari for the same money?
Click to expand...

The Seal is a flagship vehicle and when you actually see one in person you couldn’t care less about any German brand that may or may not compete with it because it stands happily alone on its own merits.

Then you find out how comparatively cheap it is and it becomes a no brainer.

If I was actually shopping in that kind of bracket I would already have one in the garage.
 
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In 2025, CAR magazine road tested over 50 new vehicles on the South African market, each of which was weighed on our standardised scales. We’ve rounded up the five heaviest vehicles we tested in 2025.

5.⁠ ⁠Mercedes-Benz Vito 119 CDI Tourer Select – 2 387 kg

4.⁠ ⁠Audi RS Q8 quattro performance – 2 475 kg

3.⁠ ⁠Land Rover Defender Octa Edition One – 2 578 kg

2.⁠ ⁠BYD Shark 6 Premium AWD – 2 710 kg

1.⁠ ⁠Volvo EX90 Twin Performance Ultra – 2 712 kg

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5 Heaviest vehicles CAR magazine tested in 2025

In 2025, CAR magazine tested over 50 new vehicles. We’ve rounded up the five heaviest vehicles we've tested in 2025...
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