BYD, the biggest challenger to Tesla, has no plans of entering ‘confusing’ US

China's BYD has emerged as one of the biggest electric car manufacturer in the world and is now competing for the crown with Tesla. But while Tesla has a global presence and the US is a crucial home base for it, BYD has no plans of entering the world's second largest vehicle market just yet.

BYD has been on a path of global expansion even though China is where it sells most of its offerings still. China is extremely crucial for manufactures as it is the world's largest vehicle as well as electric vehicle (EV) market. Tesla established its first non-US factory in Shanghai back in 2019 and fares strong here despite a long list of global and local rivals. But BYD does not want to invade Tesla's home base, a market it has termed as ‘confusing for buyers.’

Stella Li, Executive Vice President and CEO of BYD Americas, recently confirmed a plant in Mexico but when asked about entering the US, she categorically denied any such plans that BYD was rumoured to have. She was talking to Yahoo Finance in an interview. “The Mexican plant will mainly support the Mexican market. We are not planning to come to the US," she was quoted as saying. "The US is an interesting market but very complicated if you're talking about EVs. Everything is complicated. Politics complicate and it’s confusing for buyers. They don’t know which to choose."

Li was also critical of the US Inflation Reduction Act which - broadly - seeks to subsidise EV prices if the manufacturing of the said model takes place in the US. This is to promote domestic investments and Li argues that it is detrimental for the growth of the EV market. She backs up her argument with the fact that the share of EVs in the overall vehicle market in China is at 35 per cent while