AD #4416 – BYD Dutch Offices Raided Over Copyright; Tesla’s China Sales Plummet; Tariffs Threaten Chinese Auto Exports

This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry.

TARIFFS THREATEN CHINESE AUTO EXPORTS
China’s auto industry is starting to face backlash as it offsets falling sales at home with massive exports of cars and trucks. According to China’s Passenger Car Association, exports have grown 75% so far this year. However it’s forecasting a sharp drop in growth for next year.  
The U.S., Canada, the European Union, Mexico, Thailand and Brazil all have or will have restrictions on Chinese vehicles and as a result, exports are expected to grow by 10% in 2027.  

BYD DUTCH OFFICES RAIDED OVER COPYRIGHT
Meanwhile, two BYD offices in the Netherlands were raided in August, but we’re only learning about it now. Court-appointed officers were reportedly looking for evidence that BYD stole intellectual property from the Land Rover Defender to develop the Ti7 SUV, which is supposed to go on sale in the UK early next year. The Ti7, which is basically a rebadged version of the Fang Cheng Bao Tai 7 that went on sale in China in 2025, has very similar styling to the Defender. However, authorities haven’t announced any further action at this time and neither BYD or Land Rover has commented publicly. But this isn’t JLR’s first dispute with a Chinese automaker. It took legal action against Jiangling Motors for copying the design of the Evoque for the Landwind X7. A case that it won in 2019 and which forced Jiangling to stop sales and production of the X7. 

NEXPERIA SUES CHINESE PARENT FOR $2B
Chip maker Nexperia is also suing its Chinese parent company Wingtech for $2 billion. It filed a lawsuit, which also happens to be in the Netherlands, that alleges Wingtech operated outside its “established corporate governance framework,” which caused it significant damages. We don’t know when the lawsuit could be ruled on, but this is just another chapter in a long dispute between the two companies. Wingtech bought Nexperia in 2019 and things seemed to be going well until last year when Nexperia was warned that its Chinese ownership posed a national security for Europe, so the Dutch government stepped in and took control of the company. Wingtech then declared its China plant was completely separate from Nexperia’s operations in the Netherlands, which impacted chip production, especially for Honda, Nissan, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz and Stellantis. Now Nexperia is looking for other ways that it can bypass its Chinese operations. 

   

TESLA’S CHINA SALES PLUMMET
Last month, Tesla’s retail sales in China declined sharply. Tesla’s wholesale figures, which includes retail and exports, were just under 68,000 units, up 10% from a year ago. But only 8,800 of those were retail sales, a 66% drop year-over-year. While Tesla’s numbers are generally lower at the beginning of a quarter, it was the first time since July of 2022 that its retail sales fell below 10,000 units. But like most other automakers, China is becoming an export hub for Tesla. Through October it has exported 421,000 vehicles, up 101% from last year. Meanwhile, its retail sales have declined 15% to 390,000 units.

GEELY WARNS OF EV BATTERY COSTS
Geely chairman Li Shufu is warning that battery replacements for older electric vehicles are too expensive. He says that the high costs of replacing or repairing battery packs could make it too expensive to maintain older vehicles that otherwise still have good life left in them. Li Shufu says the issue isn’t widespread in China yet because the EV market is still relatively young. Repair costs also depend on the battery’s construction, the extent of any damage and the availability of components.

EV TRUCK STARTUP HARBINGER RAISES $240M
We’ve seen a number of EV truck startups fail but California-based Harbinger could be an exception. The company announced it raised another $240 million in its latest funding round, bringing its total to over $650 million since the company was established in 2021. Harbinger says the new funding will go towards commercial vehicles, energy storage systems, power generation, autonomy software and defense applications, as well as ramping up its medium-duty production capacity.

TESLA ADDS CYBERTRUCK SHIFT BEFORE SHUTDOWN
Last week we reported that Tesla is going to drop the Cybertruck, and now Elon Musk says he’s going to add a second shift to fill as many reservations as possible before the line gets shut down next year. Maybe some of you out there in the Autoline audience can help us understand what’s going on, because to us the math doesn’t add up. Here’s why. Tesla is currently tooled up to make 125,000 Cybertrucks a year. That means the plant is capable of making about 62 trucks an hour on one shift. Last quarter Tesla said it sold 11,285 vehicles that were not the 3 or Y. Since the Model S and X went out of production last May, there’s probably very few of them in that total. And probably very few Semis or Cybercabs. So, for argument’s sake let’s say that Tesla sold 11,000 Cybertrucks last quarter. That means it was selling 183 a day on average, which, if it’s a true build-to-order system, translates into a line speed of about 23 an hour. So if the plant can make 62 an hour, why would Tesla need a second shift to boost production? All it needs to do is run that plant at line speed, or at least run some overtime. Our only explanation is that the Cybertruck can’t be put together as fast as most people thought. And if you have a better explanation, we’d love to hear it. 

     

TOP AUTOMOTIVE FLOPS IN HISTORY
Speaking of the Cybertruck, last Friday we posted a poll asking if you thought it was the biggest flog in automotive history. And it was close. 52% of you said, yes, it was the biggest flop, but 48% of you said No. And wow did you have a lot of suggestions for cars that you thought were bigger flops. Viewers like Irvin Wright, Tom Cain, AC Held, Don Hermmings, David Hamby and Bill Kerr said the Edsel was the biggest flop. Mike McAllister threw in the 1930s Chrysler Airflow, while Randy Lamp chose Tucker and Nicka140 and one other voted for the electric Dodge Charger. Then comes a slew of suggestions that are so long we don’t have room to list all of you who chose them, but they include Fisker, Canoo, Lordstown, Nikola, Elio, Bollinger, Faraday Future, the Cadillac Cimarron and the VW Phaeton. Thanks for your feedback folks. You sure have a good sense of automotive history.

And that wraps up today’s report. Thanks for watching Autoline Daily.