Electric vehicle sales are booming in South America – without Tesla

When I grew up in Germany it always made me proud that 100% of taxis were Mercedes Benz. If a car can withstand the rough demands of taxi service, it has to be good. And even in South America back then German cares were ubiquitous, especially Volkswagen.

When I was in Brazil this spring[*] I rode a lot of Uber and they were 100% BYD - 100%, no exception. It's not that my head hadn't known that German auto was dead but seeing it playing out like this hit hard.

[*] northern hemisphere

Not just Tesla, all established brands we know are left behind. I never understood Volkswagen's pivot from 'wait and See's to 'were inversing billions' to 'we were too late, abort'. Largest brands n terms of units, completely left behind in an emerging segment that's already dominating it's largest market (China). So many executives in the industry just didn't see the writing on the wall. I don't what GM was thinking, trying a truck as their first platform for EVs, but it's another indicator. This industry has the worst executives. Just don't see the writing on the wall.

was just at the mall down here in bogota colombia. they had a bunchof BYDs on display and honestly, they look much more compelling than what tesla is offerring these days.

It was announced a few days ago some models of Tesla are coming to Colombia at cheaper prices than BYD and the like and people here seems to be crazy about Tesla now. Time will tell how reliable they are on our poor roads.

And that's one thing about EVs here in general - they are coming with no spare tire but a flat tire repair kit, which it's fine for small issues but may not be enough for the problems said tough roads can give to your tires.

Fake news? Seems like Tesla is doing just fine down there.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/byd-blows-past-rivals-tesla-1...

Tariffs might keep Chinese EVs out of the US, but they don't stop US influence from fading everywhere else. South America is voting with their wallets, and 'buy American' doesn't work when the price is double and the tech is the same.

Unless the US intends to sanction every country that prioritizes value over US geopolitics, this battle is already lost.

Tesla was dead in the water when it became obvious that they couldn't make a sub-$30K car happen. They will still probably do well as a luxury brand, but China is going to fill in the demand for affordable EVs in the rest of the world outside USA/EU.

I wonder how many clicks Reuters get on "Electric vehicle sales are booming in South America - without Tesla" vs "Electric vehicle sales are booming in South America"

I feel like a lot of readers are missing the main point. US and European manufactures do not want to enter this low volume zero margin market. The total sales in Latin America (that includes Mexico and South America is around five million units - that is less than half of what is sold in the US each year. And at a price point of 20K it just does not make sense for American and European manufacturers given that their R&as costs are higher than Asian manufacturers and their North American models are too large and expensive for South America markets.

In addition they know that the US is a captive market as the government will not allow Chinese companies to sell their cars here due to data and security concerns.

So it does not make sense to chase tiny profits.

> Chinese brands

There is far more to the logistics and adoption of this outside of "Tesla failed to capture the region" as the article's title eludes to.

Bribery, government corruption, risky loans, undercutting. It is well documented in the case of large infrastructure projects and the same playbook will be revealed in time.

>> "Chinese brands gain legitimacy, challenging Western carmakers"

Musk has been shaking around his political penis at just the same moment as the Chinese manufacturers came of age and are on course, now, to supplant Tesla completely.

And the Tesla shareholders / BoD waived through $1t pay package as a reward.

Dysfunctional Leadership writ large.

And in Europe and in Asia. Last time I was in the US, Tesla looked like a scam.

In Europe didn’t basically all brands take a hit? It was framed as Tesla falling behind but it’s more that Chinese EVs are so cheap, nothing can compete. Even within China the competition is insane, with over 100 car companies fighting to survive and giving out big discounts.

This is a result of over regulation in the auto industry. I always shake my head at the group of people that wants cheaper prices on goods and services, but propose regulating large companies to death.

China is winning because they don't have to work around pesky labor or IP laws. Then we have people pointing to how much better they are at business and also want all these protections.

Trivially substitutable goods, at a much lower price, with a now-reduced ethical difference. Not hard to see why.