In China, there is now an intense price war between electric car manufacturers. Tesla has jacked down prices several times, but still had to see sales fall by nearly 20 percent in February.
Chinese BYD has really surged forward globally, and in the fourth quarter took over the place as the world’s largest electric car manufacturer – while Tesla moved down. Most of BYD’s cars are sold in China, which is the world’s largest car market.
Now BYD is reducing the price of its cheapest electric car, the Seagull, by 5 percent to 69,800 yuan. In Norwegian kroner, you thus get a brand new car for only NOK 102,000.
You should be able to turn the screen on the dashboard as you like in the BYD Seagull. Photo: BYD
More expensive in Norway
BYD Seagull has been nicknamed “the world’s cheapest electric car”. It was originally supposed to cost 95,800 yuan, just over NOK 140,000, but the price has been cut several times.
The car is not yet available for purchase in Norway, but according to TV 2 it will arrive during 2024. Here the selling price will probably be more than NOK 100,000.
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Shipping costs, import duties from China and the weight tax will increase the price considerably. In comparison, the Nissan Leaf is currently among Norway’s cheapest cars with a starting price of NOK 234,000, and many believe that the BYD Seagull must be cheaper than the Leaf to have the right of life in Norway.
– It is too early to say anything about what this car will cost, but it will definitely be an affordable car, said product manager Marit Strysse at RSA, which imports BYD to Norway, to TV 2.
However, the Seagull is smaller than the Leaf, and the top speed is 130 kilometers per hour. The range is stated to be around 300 kilometers.
The car model can be said to be popular in China, to say the least. 10,000 cars were ordered within 24 hours when the Seagull was launched in April 2023. By the new year, close to 240,000 BYD Seagulls had been sold.
This article was first published in Finansavisen Motor.
