Unless they can come in at BYD/MG/Cherry’s pricing - that’s a death knell.
Who wants to pay Volkswagen prices (fyi: VW isn’t exactly ‘cheap’ in Australia) when you could just buy a BYD instead.
‘Made in Europe’ is really the last thing they’ve got, that’s their entire schtick.
Me, if they have better build quality than BYD, which is definitely low end of engineering. Door gaps, trim and panel misalignment, razor thin bonnet cutouts… They’re really not built to last imo - and that’s why they can be priced so low.
What do you mean by “razor thin bonnet cut outs”? Wouldn’t a smaller cutout be a sign of better engineering?
I don’t know the technical term for this precise part of the car, here’s an image.
This is a newer model, but on the BYD seal I examined I nearly bent this just by leaning on it. Completely gave way under me, as it’s just a thin piece of floating metal with a small rectangle of foam under it.
On a more traditional manufacturers car body this would be part of the unibody - directly joined to the frame. On BYD it’s a floating panel. Same with the side panels, so if you open the door you can see between the car panel and the interior car frame. There is a thin piece of foam insert to block access, but it was loose and easily came out - more premium manufacturers make this a part of the unibody again. It prevents water (or debris/dirt) coming in between the panels, and strengthens the body, at the cost of some weight due to the added steel. BYD - nah, foam insert is fine.
Like I said, they’re built to a price point and there are many points of failure that other manufacturers have learnt are not corners worth cutting.
Who cares, as long as they’re not american
No one buys American cars though, only their emotional support vehicles (‘full size’ trucks)