They're not great cars - cheap, plasticky interiors and drive like a milk float, but for the money, it's a 7 year warranty, 8 year rust and 10 year battery warranty - better warranty than you get with any of the traditional automobile makers on cars that are double the price. If you see a car as a tool and way of getting from a to b cheaply, rather than a luxury, a pastime or a status symbol, they serve their purpose.
This will tell you how cheap they are to make. I was talking to a guy the other day, I used to do Fiat back in 2007 on the south side of Glasgow down a very notorious street called Allison Street. His son had worked his way up to manager of Springburn which is north side of city centre. I said that was Fiat too. Yes he says, not anymore, it’s all Chinese, he can’t get enough of them, they are just churning out cars left, right and centre, he’s never seen anything like it. So then he says, BYD, who I had never heard of. If a customer has got a problem with the car, like needs a specialist part or something. Instead of ordering the part which will take weeks to come from China, they just say give the customer a new car, they just swap the car, rather than fix it! Absolutely insane!
Not sure about BYD in the UK, but here and in Germany, they built an enormous automated warehouse and fill them with parts from the different models and as soon as needed they ship instantly, so it's much more efficient. Basically, don't need a traditional mechanic for them anymore, have someone who deals with software and then a parts installer. More like an electronics item these days, than a fossil car. My neighbour has a Sealion - terrible name, but when I drove it, it was pretty nice inside and to drive for a 500,000kr/ £37000 car - 4 wheel drive, 500km reach, can tow 1500kg and decent warranty. Its a fair point that the outside of cars, the design, has got boring, but to me, it's like a smartphone - they're all more or less the same shape these days, but it's what they can do what counts. It's not really any different from what Honda, Yamaha and Kawasaki did in the 1960s to the motorcycle market in Europe - flood the market with cheaper, more efficient bikes and put local producers out of business.
Funny you should say that. Only 100 yards away was Pollockshaws Road which basically runs from the city centre a few miles down to Shawlands. There was also a Vauxhall Arnold Clark on Pollockshaws Road 100 yards away, and if you didn’t get people signed up there and then to a Punto or a Bravo/Brava, “we’re just going to look at a Corsa/Astra”, you knew you were completely ****ed.
