cross-posted from: https://mander.xyz/post/54841619
Hyundai has taken aim at its biggest Chinese rival in Australia, with the brand's local chief sensationally suggesting BYD is dumping cars and losing money, while labelling the auto giant's stratospheric growth unsustainable.
That's the word from CEO and President of Hyundai Australia, Don Romano - not just the company's most senior automotive executive, but also CEO of the brand's Asia Pacific Regional Headquarters - who did not hold back when asked if he was surprised at how quickly BYD had been able to shoot up the Australian sales charts.
"I think if I were to lose money and dump cars, and if my stock price was down 40 per cent, I could do the same," he says.
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"I think there's a big difference between growth at any cost and growth organically, so I'm not surprised. I would be if it was sustainable.
"We're celebrating our 40th anniversary and we're planning another 40 years, so if they're around in 40 years then hats off to them, but at the rate they're going right now?
"It's their strategy, but no, I'm not surprised. I think none of us are. We know what their strategy is, we know why they're doing what they're doing, it isn't the way we would do business, but time will tell."
It's a stunning attack from within the industry, with Mr Romano seemingly referring to BYD's results in China, where, in contrast to Australia, sales have been falling. That appears to be putting downward pressure on BYD's stock price, which has fallen 36.39 on the Hong Kong exchange over the past 12 months.
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Mr Romano's comments seem to suggest that at least some of that growth is being fuelled by selling vehicles here below cost.
Hyundai sales are up a more modest five per cent across the first five months of 2026, though both brands have sold a similar amount of vehicles, with BYD's approximate 33,000 edging Hyundai's approximate 32,000.
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BYD, which maintains a fully-integrated supply chain of Chinese suppliers, has created its own proprietary supply chain finance system called the “D-chain,” through which it issues “e-debt certificates.”
Suppliers can either redeem the certificates upon maturity or transfer them to others within BYD’s supply chain network.
However, such digital instruments are simply bilateral credit agreements between BYD and the supplier.
So how long does it take to get paid? BYD typically follows a net 30 to 60 payment cycle, with the D-chain system adding an additional six to eight months to that period. In practice, that stretches the total payment period to between eight and 10 months.
That approach greatly reduces BYD’s financial pressure, but is to the considerable disadvantage of its suppliers.
This and the system enables BYD to hide ballooning corporate debt are the reasons why the company has reportedly been pressured to abandon its payment system. At the end of last year, BYD has reportedly decided to phase out its payment system, but no details were published.]
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I wish we had better (read, less overwhelmingly biased) reporting on the BYD cars. It would admittedly make a great deal of sense if they were selling at a loss - their cars are exceptionally nice for the price point they occupy - but at the same time I know most other automotive manufacturers are sandbagging their EV offerings and at the same time raising the prices. Stupid hard to find any legit reporting on this though, as everything is either
"China is coming for your JOB, WIFE and MASCULINITY so driving a
[your-country-here]made combustion engine is YOUR PATRIOTIC DUTY and it'll make your DICK BIGGER"or
"China is topping the other carmakers look they've stuffed the fastest car so far up GM's ass they're literally gagging"
and honestly, neither take is exactly helpful.
I think the global car industry is in one of those shock-denial-anger-acceptance cycles. They cannot fathom how BYD (and China in general) can do this, and the answer is that like a decade ago, they bought up mines which they are now using for a fully vertically integrated production pipeline. This means that some of what they're saying is true, and some is cope.
Having said that, the article still reads like "you are getting cars worth more than you are paying for", or "cars which are less than our manufacturing costs", and like, yeah, we can tell. The big issue with Hyundai isn't the price, it's that they cannot make better cars. You compare the Inster against even the Kia EV3 and it's just a bit shit. They literally have all the weirdnesses of the Chinese automakers alongside being Euro-car expensive.
They don't need to get cheaper, they need to get better.
This is among many very good reports about BYD.
The only thing that is biased (and not helpful) here is your comment. You don't even try to take on some of the facts about BYD, it's just a superficial "us versus them" whataboutism that is so widespread in the Lemmyverse.
Your singleminded quest to hate China as much as possible with this account has caused you to intentionally misinterpret that comment way too much, to the point that I originally thought you didn't understand English very well.
I don't think you understand what "whataboutism" means.
I suspect you've misinterpreted me? This article is extremely biased, as it's literally the viewpoint and theories presented by one of their biggest rivals. There's no whattaboutism in my comment either, leaving me overall pretty confused about your response.