I was referring to all BYD vehicles, not just EVs, the German car makers realize the threat,
a few years ago, i was an investor in an effort to import a Chinese built vehicle into the U.S. in that process, i did learn a great deal about how those products do not measure up, and what it might involve to get them to market. and i have the write-off to prove it.
i drove the Chinese vehicles which were to be the basis of the effort.
they have a long way to go, to go head to head. it's easy to see why they keep trying to steal expertise. in particular areas they do achieve certain things. but the end product is not there.
there are many great cars for sale in the US and Europe......the bar is very high. customers have particular expectations.
like i said, check back in 5 years. things might change.
for Honda i know it cost about $2.5 Billion with a 'B' and 3-4 years, to do a new model change-over, for an existing model line. that has to be amortized over how ever many units (500,000 to 3 million for Honda's USA models, maybe double that for world wide models) in the 4-5 year run for that generation. and Honda is a world expert and has all the assets in place to do it right. to take a Chinese product and get it to be EU or USA converted would be almost the same. depends on how many parts would change, how different the drive train would need to be, the safety, the emissions, the materials. and that's if they have the expertise. could it be done? sure, if the will to do it is sufficient. even after all that, will the market accept it? a big gamble. you are starting from zero trying to get sales momentum. and no distribution or dealers. will the price/value equation remaining be enough to move the market? break into share of current solid leaders?
big reasons it has not been done yet. waaaaay easier for western manufacturers to enter the Chinese marketplace. they are the experts. it's not a design challenge, just an assembly challenge. the design cost is already amortized. and maybe some de-contenting. so big profits, small risk.