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    Chinese rival overtakes Tesla as Britain turns against Musk
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    Chinese rival overtakes Tesla as Britain turns against Musk

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    31 Comments

    1. Wagamaga on

      Chinese electric car titan BYD has overtaken Tesla in British sales for the first time as public opinion sours towards Elon Musk.

      BYD sold 1,614 passenger cars last month, with Tesla selling just 1,458 by comparison, according to data published by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

      The figures represented a 500pc annual increase for BYD, while Tesla’s sales were down about 8pc.

      It marks the first time that BYD has outsold Tesla on a monthly basis.

      Mr Musk, Tesla’s boss and a key ally of Donald Trump, has suffered a drop in popularity since he waded into European politics to back Right-wing parties such as Reform in the UK and the AfD in Germany, polling shows. Separate figures published in Germany on Wednesday show Tesla’s sales plummeted by 59pc there last month.

    2. Wanallo221 on

      If (when) Trump puts tariffs on the UK. I hope we have a retaliatory (petty) 100% tariff ready to go on Tesla. 

      Trump and Musk don’t care about how much you harm the US. They care how much you harm them. Trudeau’s Tesla tariff caused a much greater panic than their retaliatory tariffs on other things. 

    3. Beer-Milkshakes on

      It’s going to happen. Chinese vehicles will flush our markets. Considering many many many materials used in cars from European and Japanese and SK brands are from China. Electronics, sensors, motors, plastics all from China.

    4. rtrs_bastiat on

      Honestly I feel like BYD makes a better vehicle anyway. Some of the stuff they’re doing is really cool. It’s just a shame we’re trading the frying pan for the fryer.

    5. _JR28_ on

      The collective FU Europe has shown to Elon has been entertaining to watch, I wonder what he thought he was bringing upon himself using that salute

    6. Cookyy2k on

      I still heavily doubt the political take these articles keep pushing. Yeah, Musk ain’t helping but this was always going to happen.

      Teslas are expensive with a poor QA/QC reputation, they just came along when there was little competition. Now there is a lot of competition from cheaper and better products they are going to lose market share.

    7. Farewell-Farewell on

      I think that the situation with the sales of EVs is more complicated than what is being portrayed. While some people may not buy Tesla because of the behaviour of Musk, others won’t buy EVs from China, a country with shockingly bad human rights.

      Plus, sales of EVs cover a range of EV manufacturers. Tesla is one of many.

    8. wybird on

      I’m sure it’s partly to do with Musk but also Tesla’s whole line up is just looking a bit old and stale. The Chinese alternatives are new and more interesting. Tesla seems to have wasted a lot of development time on the cybertruck when it could have been improving its existing models or making new ones.

    9. ScottOld on

      Don’t think I have seen a BYD.. just see the adverts on the TV and wonder why it’s name is more suited to some cable or obscure household gadget then a car

    10. AnZhongLong on

      I lived in China for a long time and have seen BYD cars evolve into what they are now and I think they are far better and more comfortable to sit in than a tesla, though I haven’t admittedly sat in a lot of teslas, maybe two of the models. teslas feel like tiny boxes, especially when sat in the rear as do a lot of leccy cars.

      Feels like no one takes into account the foot space batteries take up in these cars

    11. RaymondBumcheese on

      I think the Musk angle is slightly overstated. Even without The Worst Person In The World at the helm, a lot of Chinese EVs are just better than Teslas so they were due a dip anyway.

    12. FancyMan_ on

      My Seal arrives in a month. Lovely car with all the gear and quick too. Works out waaayyyy cheaper than a tesla as a company car

    13. archiekane on

      I’m a Kia EV fan, personally.

      Tesla build quality should be the biggest tell for bad sales. They deserve it, regardless of Musk being a twerp.

    15. qwerty_1965 on

      The European car companies have finally realised they were fleecing “the willing” and have reacted esp Renault with the 5 and its Dacia subsidiary.
      30k euro has to be the maximum not minimum for shopping trolley runabouts.

    16. ParrotofDoom on

      I have to say, my car is getting tired now and I’ve looked at the Model 3. Until a few weeks ago that was my likely upgrade route. After the salute – no way. I’m probably going down the ID3 path now.

    17. UJ_Reddit on

      We just got to EV – one Nissan, one Renault (car of the year). Tesla wasn’t even close.

    19. Biggeordiegeek on

      At the turn of the century China realised that BEC was the future and made huge investments into the research for it and development

      They are reaping the rewards for that now whilst most western and Japanese companies are trying to catch up

      We had a BYD as a courtesy car whilst ours was in for a repair after someone crashed into us a few months ago, the number if cameras inside was weird and I got to be honest, it felt very Chinese

    20. coder111 on

      Yeah, well, I hate Elon Musk as well and I think people need to stop buying Teslas.

      But influx of Chinese cars WILL KILL European car industry. Including any UK manufacturing still left. And I do not think we should cheer that.

      Not sure if tariffs in UK and EU are a valid solution (maybe, if temporary, with a clear timeline for reduction and removal). But I think EU/UK car industry should be kept alive, for self sufficiency, strategic and economic reasons. I think Europe should be spending billions on investment in battery manufacturing, chip manufacturing and electric cars. This should have been done a decade ago, but we are where we are…

      Yeah, I know, it’s largely the fault of European car manufacturers for not investing in electric cars and batteries when it was time to do it, before Tesla kicked them in the ass and forced to do it. Yes, I know Elon Musk is a right wing asshole, but you cannot deny his and Tesla’s contribution to promoting electric cars. Without Tesla we’d still be making diesels…

    21. thebear1011 on

      I wouldn’t buy a Chinese brand yet, I’ve driven a few and the infotainments have always been just … weird, they tend to feel like an old school android flavour that isn’t well thought through and offers too many gimmicky options. Eg I remember one asked you to set how many windscreen wipes to do when using the windscreen washer. The number of menus and sub options makes the system cumbersome to use. Maybe it’s a cultural difference as to what makes a good UX. Perhaps they will improve as they get more Western customer feedback.

    22. PulmonaryEmphysema on

      Chinese EVs are already leagues ahead of competitors’ anyway. Same with phones and other tech. We’ve just got a monopoly on market share that prevents us from accessing other devices

    23. Fresh_Mountain_Snow on

      Trump looks to strength. There are back channels where you can indicate what will happen if he fucks around. London is a massive financial sector; he cares about that. He cares about the royal family. He cares about making Brexit a success. There’s more that could be implied to Trump but nsfw and I imagine the turnaround from Trump towards Starmer is because of that. 

    24. Red_Dog1880 on

      Knew it was going to be BYD before even opening the article.

      I don’t know if the claim that Chinese products are badly built and break down easily still holds up, but around the time TikTok shut down for a day or so in the US my feed got flooded with Americans going to RedNote and seeing Chinese stuff, which included things like housing, their cities and of course their cars.

      I was surprised at just how advanced their cars looked, specifically BYD (I wouldn’t be surprised if they were pushing that content).

    25. HotHuckleberry3454 on

      China and US are both essentially hostile to the UK. I’d encourage people to buy European where possible. I’d rather have prosperous neighbours and get some of the rub.

    27. Mkwdr on

      My understanding is that tesla are pretty terrible as far as reliability is concerned and there’s now lots of other options. I’m kind of surprised anyone’s still buying them. Though I expect someone we will point out why they are better.

    28. Appropriate_Car_3711 on

      BYD sold 1,614 passenger cars last month, with Tesla selling just 1,458 by comparison, according to data published by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

      Hardly Britain turning against Musk…

    29. Duanedoberman on

      The BYD [Seagull](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/BYD_Seagull) being launched later this year in the UK will probably be the game changer. Less than £10k without tariffs, it has been massive in Southeast Asia and a large part of the driving force, which saw China sell more EVs than Petrol/Diesil for the first time late last year.

      Just need to change the name!

    30. BombshellTom on

      Teslas are awfully built. The interior is cheap, thin plastic and a screen. Nothing feels sturdy. The cars go quickly, yes. But they aren’t worth £60k.

    31. Spindelhalla_xb on

      Actually saw a BYD last week, was pretty shocked actually given the amount of Teslas around.