Saw a BYD in SoCal

I was headed home after work and saw some headlights I didn't recognize.

After pulling up on it, I realized it was a BYD and was pretty surprised. I've tried to look it up online but there's not much on whether or not they're legal in the US. Looks like there's a facility in Lancaster for commercial vehicle production so maybe this is a company car. Kinda neat so I thought I'd share with the community.

Here's some photos. Apologies as they're not the best.

Did it have CA plates?

25 V8 IS wrote

Did it have CA plates?

It was a dealer plate

BYD is everywhere in Europe these days, so it's always surprising to hear how uncommon they still are in the US. It will be interesting to see whether they eventually find a way into the American passenger car market in a meaningful way.

Nice spot.

Powerday wrote

It will be interesting to see whether they eventually find a way into the American passenger car market in a meaningful way.

Hopefully NOT...not ever!

Brandoch wrote

Why?
They are welcomed here in Canada?

You may or may not figure that out

Saw a weird BYD in Central PA two weeks ago. Had odd lower rear pan (homemade?) on it that said something like (this is an electric car) Not like there aren't enough of them around here already. Car looked Rough but the BYD on the rear deck was there?

Powerday wrote

BYD is everywhere in Europe these days, so it's always surprising to hear how uncommon they still are in the US. It will be interesting to see whether they eventually find a way into the American passenger car market in a meaningful way.
Nice spot.

The European Union automotive sector is undergoing a severe structural crisis, resulting in over 104,000 announced job losses between 2024 and 2025, with internal estimates and labor groups warning that up to 350,000 to 600,000 total industry jobs remain at risk by 2030.

Do stupid things, win stupid prizes.

Maybe it came up from Mexico? I guess dealer plates make that less likely unless it’s a Mexican dealership.

Brandoch wrote

Sigh.........
The world apparently can only answer a question by what political party they voted for.

OK fine, why do we need a Chinese brand and made EV? Who is embracing them here?

Executive Party Ties: BYD’s billionaire founder, chairman, and CEO, Wang Chuanfu, is a known member of the CCP and a prominent ally to the central government.

BYD receives heavy direct and indirect state financial backing—amounting to billions of dollars in subsidies.

U.S. Military List: The U.S. Department of Defense has identified BYD as a "Chinese Military Company" (CMC) on its Section 1260H list. This designation reflects U.S. concerns over the "Military-Civil Fusion" (MCF) strategy, which integrates commercial companies into the People's Liberation Army (PLA) supply and research ecosystem.

Data Privacy & "Connected" Cars: Because modern BYD vehicles act as connected, data-gathering sensors, Western lawmakers have raised alarms over the potential for surveillance and data being sent back to Beijing under China's National Intelligence Law. This has prompted U.S. investigations and proposed legislation that could restrict or ban Chinese-connected vehicle software and hardware on U.S. roads.

Nothing to see here, move along

Car-Addicted wrote

Executive Party Ties: BYD’s billionaire founder, chairman, and CEO, Wang Chuanfu, is a known member of the CCP and a prominent ally to the central government.

BYD receives heavy direct and indirect state financial backing—amounting to billions of dollars in subsidies.

U.S. Military List: The U.S. Department of Defense has identified BYD as a "Chinese Military Company" (CMC) on its Section 1260H list. This designation reflects U.S. concerns over the "Military-Civil Fusion" (MCF) strategy, which integrates commercial companies into the People's Liberation Army (PLA) supply and research ecosystem.

Data Privacy & "Connected" Cars: Because modern BYD vehicles act as connected, data-gathering sensors, Western lawmakers have raised alarms over the potential for surveillance and data being sent back to Beijing under China's National Intelligence Law. This has prompted U.S. investigations and proposed legislation that could restrict or ban Chinese-connected vehicle software and hardware on U.S. roads.

Nothing to see here, move along

Your driving data is already going to the highest bidder. Even insurance companies! Much more scary than the Chinese IMO.

How many billions has GM received in bail outs?

Hyundai has been building tanks for decades.

Kind of silly arguments.

Remember when Citroen and Renault were sold in North America but failed to gain traction? Maybe it will be a similar experiment.

I take a more free market view on this. We should allow BYD to come in and compete against domestic companies. This increases innovation and forces companies like Tesla, GM and Ford to innovate faster. This all helps the consumer in the end with better EV's. Protectionism allows these companies to rest on their laurels and become fat and lazy.

Car-Addicted wrote

Powerday wrote

BYD is everywhere in Europe these days, so it's always surprising to hear how uncommon they still are in the US. It will be interesting to see whether they eventually find a way into the American passenger car market in a meaningful way.
Nice spot.

The European Union automotive sector is undergoing a severe structural crisis, resulting in over 104,000 announced job losses between 2024 and 2025, with internal estimates and labor groups warning that up to 350,000 to 600,000 total industry jobs remain at risk by 2030.

Do stupid things, win stupid prizes.

Europe will lose a million jobs or more. It is not competition. Etsy. Loads of politicians in the West are on foreign countries payrolls.

BYD has an office in socal and has a few cars located there that reviewers can access, so you may see them specifically in that area from time to time.

Powerday wrote

BYD is everywhere in Europe these days, so it's always surprising to hear how uncommon they still are in the US. It will be interesting to see whether they eventually find a way into the American passenger car market in a meaningful way...

smokinjoe64 wrote

Hopefully NOT...not ever!

Brandoch wrote

Why?
They are welcomed here in Canada?

Why???
Briefly highlighting only a few objective, factual ‘economic/market’ factors as to 'the why' [devoid of pure politics]:

CF Moto is a Chinese motorcycle manufacturer has been here in the US market for a couple of years if not more. From what I can tell, they've been doing fine. Granted the motorcycle market can be viewed as more of a niche market compared to the automobile market.

ETA: Huawei has had some of their products sold in the consumer market. The Feds stepped in when Huawei was making a big play into the 5G modernization market.

I am sure these same, tired arguments were made when the Japanese and the Koreans entered the car market regardless of region.

But hey, if you're willing to pay $60000 for POS American made car, you do you boo.

Brandoch wrote

It's a fucking car.
Wow!
You don't have to by one if you don't want one.

I truly do not understand why the stance of a political party is the only acceptable view.

"You don't have to buy one if you don't want one" exemplifies a critical imbalanceSupremely myopic and naive to ignore cumulative effects of issues noted.Agree or not, issues are real & clear.
Not gonna argue facts and outcomes further

TheGeekGuy wrote

I am sure these same, tired arguments were made when the Japanese and the Koreans entered the car market regardless of region.

But hey, if you're willing to pay $60000 for POS American made car, you do you boo.

I don't have an opinion one way or another about BYD entering the US Market. But the examples you're providing about Japanese and Korean companies are way different than the concerns being expressed in some of the replies. Last I checked I don't remember any cases of both government and industrial espionage tied to Japan or Korea. Nor has any Japanese or Korean company that has a political officer from the government that physically sits at company facilities.

TheGeekGuy wrote

I am sure these same, tired arguments were made when the Japanese and the Koreans entered the car market regardless of region.

False Equivalency

Japan and Korea practices do not, have not included:...nuff said

I'm no China shill but the concept of intellectual property crossing borders without a reciprocal enforcement agreement and standardization of IP practices is not a strong one.

The IP theft by China is just as much of a problem that the US allows those infringing products to be sold in the US, to what extent we do.

I would imagine that very little enforceable IP exists on electric cars due to Tesla's open license, and most of the advanced battery tech resides in China.