Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer BYD is making significant inroads into the North American market and could soon berth in Canada. The biggest Chinese EV maker has already entered the Mexican market and there is an official confirmation.
BYD released a press statement jointly with Uber that announced a new partnership between both companies. The partnership offers Uber drivers discounted pricing and special financing options on BYD EVs.
The goal of the new partnership is to deliver 100,000 BYD EVs into the Uber network. This will be a remarkable milestone for BYD as it continues to grapple with claims from the US and Europe that its products are excessively subsidized by Beijing. EV makers in the US and Europe therefore feel threatened by the most affordable offerings by Chinese EV makers as a whole, of which BYD is the leader.
Chinese companies offer some of the most affordable, advanced, and long-range EVs. BYD already has a global presence in the Middle East and Oceania. It currently does not retail passenger vehicles in Canada. Rather it sells buses in Canada, as in the US.
Currently, the stringent 100% tariff regime for Chinese EVs makes the US market impossible to enter at this time. However, it already sells its cars in Mexico and Canada is on the verge of being included. It is also possible to have some inroads into the US market via Mexico or Canada, as there are no tariffs on vehicles imported to the US from those countries. There are however regulations in place that will prevent BYD from just dumping its vehicles in Canada with the possibility of entering the US market. The US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement stipulates that at least 75% of the value of such vehicles must come from parts and materials sourced from either of the three countries.
It remains to be seen how the US government directly or indirectly reacts to BYD’s entry into the passenger EV market in Canada.
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