China-made BYD Shark pickup is a predator circling global truck market | Global News Avenue

DETROIT – Chinese automakers are among the sharks circling global U.S. automakers automatic world Expand its coverage and product portfolio with pickup trucks.

Without the vehicle’s brand badge, the BYD Shark passes as a Made in America product. In many ways it looks like a smaller pickup Ford electric motor. The Chinese-made truck bears exterior similarities to the Ford Explorer mixed with the popular F-150, which has been part of the Ford brand’s best-selling truck lineup in the U.S. for 48 years.

very similar Bede’s Seagull – A small all-electric hatchback starting at just 69,800 yuan (or less than $10,000) – Among global automakers worried about Chinese-like rivals Warren BuffettA returning Byd could hurt its own auto industry by flooding their market, undercutting domestic production and vehicle prices.

Bede hasn’t announced plans to sell the shark in the U.S., but it’s entering the country Universal motorFord and Toyota Motor Pickup trucks for sale including Australia, Brazil and Mexico.

In the United States, pickup trucks are the bread-and-butter vehicles of the Detroit automaker, with millions of them sold every year. They are also becoming increasingly important to Toyota in the United States and globally.

“From a revenue perspective, these products bring these products to manufacturers,” said Terry Woychowski, president of Automotive at Caresoft Global. “There’s a lot of interest in this vehicle because of the market.”

Caresoft is an engineering benchmarking and consulting company Neo There are others.

The Michigan-based company digitally and physically analyzes every part of the vehicle, from bolts and latches to seats, electric motors and battery housings. It then decides how its customers, primarily automakers and suppliers, can improve efficiency and reduce the cost of their products.

“It’s a great product. It’s selling well. They’re trying to sell a lot of it in Mexico but also localize it in Thailand,” Ford CEO Jim Farley said. When CNBC asked Earlier this month, about Byd Shark. “If we want to be the global player that Pickup is now, we have to compete.”

While Ford’s F-150 reigns supreme in the United States, Toyota’s Hilux has been the best-selling truck outside of North America for years.

Asked about Chinese rivals earlier this month, Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda said the company “must be prepared to meet global demand in global markets.”

“We try to focus on the needs of each individual market and try to do the best in town. So that will be our strategy,” Toyoda said. at a media roundtable at the CES technology conference.

bits Reportedly exported In 2024, there are expected to be more than 10,000 BYD Sharks. Such sales are expected to increase, especially as the company prepares to expand production.

According to BOFA Securities, BYD’s vehicle export share increased from 2% to China, or less than 56,000 units, to 8%, or 350,500 units, in 2024.

Export volumes continue to help BYD increase global sales to approximately 4.3 million vehicles in 2024, up from approximately 3 million vehicles in the same period last year. Wall Street analysts expect growth to continue this year to about 5.5 million this year, according to Goldman Sachs.

“Byd is starting to enter overseas markets with compelling (highly competitive, innovative) products, which we hope could become a second growth driver for the company, accounting for 31% of incremental vehicle sales in 2022-2030E, Goldman Sachs analysis Shi Tina Zhanhou said in an investor note on January 14.

BYD Shark is expected to help the automaker grow its sales and profits. This is a midsize pickup truck – a smaller market in the U.S. compared to the global market – with a plug-in hybrid powertrain that combines electric vehicle components such as batteries and electric motors with a small 1.5-liter internal combustion engine.

According to Byd, the vehicle can operate as a fully electric vehicle, or with engine power from the battery and electric motor having a range of more than 500 miles between the battery and the engine.

shark start Approximately 899,980 pesos ($44,000) in Mexico. That’s far more than BYD’s other models, but still much cheaper than many hybrid or all-electric trucks in the U.S., and it’s in line with the price of mid-range models like the Ford Ranger and Toyota Tacoma Midsize Pickup Truck in Mexico.

In Michigan, pickup trucks drive well. It accelerates quickly, but not as well as Tesla cyborg or GM’s full elevator. It’s quiet, but there’s definitely room for improved ride and handling, and it feels a little less demanding than America’s current crop of trucks

According to Woychowski, the Shark’s overall build quality is impressive, but there are elements of the vehicle and some “shared” best practices with current pickup trucks from Ford and GM.

Some familiar touches and elements include the overall exterior design being similar to the F-150, including its lighting and raised tailgate steps; the front seat interior design being similar to Toyota; and certain production aspects of the vehicle used in other trucks. Most notably, its frame – the backbone of the vehicle – is dipped in wax. Woychowski said it’s a process to reduce corrosion that GM has been doing for decades.

“You can tell where they did the benchmarking and who,” Woychowski said while checking under the vehicle. “Ford is back here, GM is back there, Toyota is back there.”

That’s not to say the vehicle isn’t unique. While Caresoft still needs to tear down the shark to better understand its build process and parts, the vehicle’s interior design and, most notably, its hybrid powertrain are unlike anything currently offered in the U.S.

For example, some battery technology is placed under the rear seats, eliminating storage space, and there are bungee cords to support the vehicle’s rear seats when folded.

“It’s actually very poorly done,” Woychowski said of the rear seats. “I would look at the space. I bet they did a pretty good job with that space.”

Other unusual elements that are less easy to spot include an over-engineered rear suspension with dual control arms (instead of each); a very straight frame; a certain amount of unnecessary jack lifting underneath the vehicle; and the use of hydraulics, he said. Arm carries heavy tailgate.

Woychowski said customers are particularly interested in Chinese automakers, including BYD, because of their growth and agility in developing new products and improving existing models.

“It’s a believable truck,” Wojchowski said of the Shark. “There are some things they do well. There are some things they can do to clean it up, but it’s not a hard job.”

—CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed to this report.