BYD revealed its strategy to sell electric cars in Europe. The first three models to be sold in eight countries, including Norway, will be the Han EV, Tang, and ATTO 3. The C-segment SUV will arrive at a pretty competitive price: €38,000 ($36,780 at the current exchange rate), which is less than most of its competitors are currently charging European customers.
The Han EV and the Tang both belong to the E-Segment, which makes them significantly more expensive. The electric sedan and the SUV will cost €72,000 ($69,689). These prices will change depending on the countries in which they are sold due to taxes and EV incentives.
Norway was the first European country to receive BYD passenger cars. The Tang has been sold there since 2021, which comes as no surprise. The Norwegian market has the largest EV share in the world, allowing EV makers to use that country as the perfect test environment for their vehicles.
After BYD presents its vehicles at the 2022 Paris Motor Show, the Han EV and the ATTO 3 will join the Tang in Norway. Denmark, Sweden, Germany, France, Netherlands, Belgium, and the UK will follow a few months after that. In 12 months, BYD intends to set foot in “the major markets in Europe.” We’ll have to wait to see what the Chinese carmaker means by “major.”
The price tag for the ATTO 3 – aka Yuan Plus – was not the only highlight in the presentation. BYD also said it was the first brand to sell a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) with the F3DM in 2008. That makes us wonder why the Chinese titan did not want to sell any of its PHEVs in the European market in the beginning. That probably has to do with the brand positioning BYD intends to have. Rather than being known as a brand for cheap vehicles, it seems to aim for premium status. The ATTO 3 is the affordable minority among the three electric cars leading the brand presentation.
Europe will probably enjoy two other BYD vehicles way more than the Han EV and the Tang: the Dolphin and the Seagull. These smaller and more affordable electric cars would sell in high numbers in the Old Continent. However, BYD knows it needs more dealerships to sell them in numbers that can make them profitable. In other words, it will let these three vehicles prepare the terrain for their arrival. We just hope that the Chinese carmaker will have explained the Han EV fires we have seen so far before the sedan arrives on European soil.
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