Latest news with #AlfredoAltavilla
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Chinese EV sales slow in Europe in Q1, posing risk of emissions fines
TURIN — Sales of Chinese brands in Europe continued to grow at a torrid place in the first quarter, but their EV sales have been hobbled by new EU tariffs, putting big automakers, including MG and Chery, at risk of paying fines for missing their emissions targets. Sales of Chinese cars were up 78 percent in the first three months of the year to 148,096, according to preliminary figures from market analyst Dataforce, while the European market was flat. Chinese market share increased to 4.5 percent from 2.5 percent in the same period in 2024. But sales of Chinese-built EVs rose only 29 percent, about the same as the overall EV market, and their market share was 7.9 percent, unchanged from a year earlier. At the same time, sales of plug-in hybrids rose 368 percent (from a low base), and their share nearly tripled to 14 percent. EVs represented 29 percent of Chinese sales in the quarter, down from 41 percent in 2024. Sign up for the Automotive News Europe By The Numbers monthly newsletter delivering data and commentary on European sales. Sales of full-hybrid and gasoline models were up 100 percent for a 47 percent market share, from 44 percent in 2024. The EU has proposed giving automakers three years instead of one to meet their 2025 emissions targets with a 'bank and borrow' system — meaning that they can fail to meet targets in one of these years and hope to catch up the following years. However, the new CO2 limits will still mean that automakers have to sell 20 to 25 percent EVs. MG Motor, which is owned by SAIC, and Chery Automotive could miss their 2025 CO2 targets if the trajectory of their sales mix continues for the rest of the year, Dataforce figures show. MG, with an electric share at 13 percent in the first quarter, is more than 15 grams above its target of 95.7 grams of CO2 per km, preliminary figures from Dataforce show. Chery's two European brands, Omoda and Jaecoo, have a 6 percent EV market share and a 20 percent plug-in hybrid market share. Chery's fleet CO2 emissions are 47 g/km above its target of 94 g/km. MG recently signaled that it could seek to avoid fines by pooling emissions with other automakers or reducing its share of gasoline-only models, which was 38 percent in the first quarter. Chinese automakers with a high share of electric and plug-in sales are well below their individual CO2 targets and able to pool with other automakers. Volvo and Polestar, which are part of Geely, will pool with Mercedes-Benz and Smart (a 50-50 Mercedes and Geely joint venture). Mercedes will be the director of the pool and benefit from Volvo's EV-heavy lineup and Polestar and Smart's EV-only range. BYD, which last year sold only EVs but has quickly ramped up sales of PHEVs in Europe, is still 80 grams below its target. In the first quarter, BYD's PHEV share was 39 percent, and the BYD Seal U was the bestselling PHEV in Europe in March. In February, Alfredo Altavilla, the former Fiat Chrysler executive who serves as BYD senior adviser for Europe, said that the Chinese automaker was in negotiation to pool its emissions in Europe. According to preliminary estimates by Dataforce, in the first quarter total CO2 emissions in Europe were 11 grams above the average target of 93.6 grams. Electric-only Tesla has already pooled with Stellantis, Toyota, Ford, Mazda, Subaru and Honda for 2025. Overall, in the first quarter MG remained Europe's bestselling Chinese automaker with sales up by a third to 76,583, preliminary figures from Dataforce show. BYD, which almost quadrupled sales to 27,365 units, ranked second, ahead of Chery's Omoda and Jaecoo, which grew to 15,663 units from a mere 413 in the first quarter last year. Sign in to access your portfolio
TimesLIVE
24-04-2025
- Automotive
- TimesLIVE
BYD reboots Europe operations after strategic stumbles, sources say
China's leading EV maker BYD is overhauling its European operations after strategic missteps including failures to sign up enough dealers and hire executives with local-market knowledge and to offer hybrids in markets resistant to fully electric vehicles, six current and former BYD executives said. BYD has moved swiftly to address these early stumbles in this critical export market, greatly expanding its dealer network and offering hefty pay packages to poach executives from European carmakers, especially Stellantis, the executives said. The Chinese EV leader announced in December that plug-in hybrids would be crucial to its European strategy. That decision came after BYD European special adviser Alfredo Altavilla — among the key executives hired in BYD's European reboot — advised BYD founder and chair Wang Chuanfu that a pure EV strategy was still a hard sell in many European countries. 'He was very quick to get the message and give the input to BYD's engineers that every new model would have to come both in EV and hybrid' versions for Europe, Altavilla told Reuters. 'It is necessary to educate customers in the green transition.' Hires of some individual European executives have been reported, and BYD has publicly acknowledged problems in the German market. This is the first detailed account of the problems identified by executives inside BYD and its systematic efforts to address them. Most of the executives spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive strategic issues. BYD declined to comment. In December, Altavilla announced in Italy that plug-in hybrids would be 'at the core of BYD strategy in Europe' moving forward, adding it would be 'stupid' to go against consumer preferences by offering only EVs. BYD first approached Altavilla, a former Fiat-Chrysler executive, last June and announced his appointment in August. He had been working as a senior adviser to private equity firm CVC Capital Partners. Altavilla hired several rising-star managers from Stellantis, including Maria Grazia Davino to run Germany and a handful of other central European countries, Alessandro Grosso in Italy and Alberto De Aza in Spain. The Chinese carmaker offered them significant pay increases and a 'chance to grow', a BYD executive said. 'These were not people we were happy to lose,' said a Stellantis source familiar with the work of the executives poached by BYD.
Time of India
23-04-2025
- Automotive
- Time of India
China EV giant BYD reboots Europe operations after strategic stumbles
Live Events China's leading EV maker BYD is overhauling its European operations after strategic missteps including failures to sign up enough dealers and hire executives with local-market knowledge and to offer hybrids in markets resistant to fully electric vehicles, six current and former BYD executives has moved swiftly to address these early stumbles in this critical export market, greatly expanding its dealer network and offering hefty pay packages to poach executives from European automakers, especially Stellantis, the executives Chinese EV leader announced in December that plug-in hybrids would be crucial to its European strategy. That decision came after BYD European special adviser Alfredo Altavilla - among the key executives hired in BYD's European reboot - advised BYD Founder and Chairman Wang Chuanfu that a pure EV strategy was still a hard sell in many European countries."He was very quick to get the message and give the input to BYD's engineers that every new model would have to come both in EV and hybrid" versions for Europe, Altavilla told Reuters. "It is necessary to educate customers in the green transition."Hires of some individual European executives have been reported, and BYD has publicly acknowledged problems in the German market. This is the first detailed account of the problems identified by executives inside BYD and its systematic efforts to address them. Most of the executives spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive strategic declined to December, Altavilla announced in Italy that plug-in hybrids would be "at the core of BYD strategy in Europe" moving forward, adding it would be "stupid" to go against consumer preferences by offering only first approached Altavilla, a former Fiat-Chrysler executive, last June and announced his appointment in August. He had been working as a senior adviser to private equity firm CVC Capital in turn hired several rising-star managers from Stellantis, including Maria Grazia Davino to run Germany and a handful of other central European countries, Alessandro Grosso in Italy and Alberto De Aza in Spain. The Chinese automaker offered them significant pay increases and a "chance to grow," a current BYD executive said."These were not people that we were happy to lose," said a Stellantis source familiar with the work of the executives poached by another sign of BYD's determination to swiftly bolster its European operations, the company last year put its No. 2 executive, Stella Li , in charge of the replaced former European chief Michael Shu , who had predicted BYD would capture at least 5% of Europe's EV market before it launches production at its first European plant in Hungary later this year. BYD ended 2024, however, with just a 2.8% share and sales totalling 57,000 vehicles, below company urgency to grow in Europe stems in part from its track record of soaring sales in China, which have increased seven-fold since 2020 to 4.2 million vehicles in 2024. BYD surpassed Tesla last year as the world's top EV seller and is now the sixth-largest global also faces Chinese rivals rushing to enter Europe, including Chery, Geely, Xpeng and most recently Changan. All Chinese automakers face pressure to grow in foreign markets to boost profits, which are hard to sustain in China because of a protracted price war among scores of EV partners and industry experts say BYD has acknowledged its Europe problems and moved decisively to address them."They are taking this very seriously, but they need to understand that building up a position in Europe takes time," said Tim Albertsen , CEO of Ayvens, one of Europe's largest leasing companies and a BYD partner in the region. "Just like European or American automakers coming to China, what the Chinese do well in China doesn't always work in Europe."There are early signs that BYD's European reboot is showing results. BYD's European sales, including the United Kingdom, have more than tripled in the first quarter of 2025 to more than 37,000 vehicles, compared to about 8,500 in the first quarter of strength in China in part reflects its ability to "evolve very quickly to give consumers what they want," said Bo Yu, China country manager at research firm JATO EV giant, for instance, undercut Chinese rivals in February by offering its "God's Eye" assisted-driving technology for free across its lineup, including in vehicles costing less than $10, this week's Shanghai auto show, BYD put on an enormous display of vehicles under four different brands that dwarfed those of most other automakers. The company unveiled new models ranging from the low-cost Seal 06 and Sealion 06 - starting at about 100,000 yuan ($13,700) and 160,000 yuan, respectively - to the Yangwang U8L, an ultra-luxury three-row SUV, and the Denza Z, a high-end sports car its meteoric rise in China, BYD expanded to Europe in 2023 with bold ambitions. Former Europe boss Shu said last May that BYD aimed to be the region's top EV seller by BYD failed to study Europe's markets beforehand, the current and former managers a telling example, BYD bought an expensive and high-profile sponsorship of the Euro 2024 soccer championship in Germany, where it billed itself as the No. 1 "NEV" maker, meaning "new energy vehicle." That is a term commonly used in China to describe the combined EV-and-hybrid sector - but the acronym is meaningless to German initial dealer network was also too small and too concentrated in major cities, the BYD sources Germany, BYD now plans to expand its dealer network to 120 locations from 27, BYD's Davino, the former Stellantis manager tapped to run Germany, told Reuters in is Europe's largest auto market with 2.8 million vehicles sold last year. BYD sold fewer than 2,900 cars there in 2024. "The market in Germany is not easy," Davino said. "The basics are still missing here."Former managers said BYD's core mistake prior to launching Europe was to treat it like a single market - like China or the United States - rather than dozens of different former BYD manager compared Europe's national markets to "frogs in a pan," all jumping in different directions, adding: "BYD is only now beginning to learn that."
Business Recorder
23-04-2025
- Automotive
- Business Recorder
China EV giant BYD reboots Europe operations after strategic stumbles, sources say
MILAN/SHANGHAI: China's leading EV maker BYD is overhauling its European operations after strategic missteps including failures to sign up enough dealers and hire executives with local-market knowledge and to offer hybrids in markets resistant to fully electric vehicles, six current and former BYD executives said. BYD has moved swiftly to address these early stumbles in this critical export market, greatly expanding its dealer network and offering hefty pay packages to poach executives from European automakers, especially Stellantis , the executives said. The Chinese EV leader announced in December that plug-in hybrids would be crucial to its European strategy. That decision came after BYD European special adviser Alfredo Altavilla - among the key executives hired in BYD's European reboot - advised BYD Founder and Chairman Wang Chuanfu that a pure EV strategy was still a hard sell in many European countries. 'He was very quick to get the message and give the input to BYD's engineers that every new model would have to come both in EV and hybrid' versions for Europe, Altavilla told Reuters. 'It is necessary to educate customers in the green transition.' Hires of some individual European executives have been reported, and BYD has publicly acknowledged problems in the German market. This is the first detailed account of the problems identified by executives inside BYD and its systematic efforts to address them. Most of the executives spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive strategic issues. BYD declined to comment. In December, Altavilla announced in Italy that plug-in hybrids would be 'at the core of BYD strategy in Europe' moving forward, adding it would be 'stupid' to go against consumer preferences by offering only EVs. BYD first approached Altavilla, a former Fiat-Chrysler executive, last June and announced his appointment in August. He had been working as a senior adviser to private equity firm CVC Capital Partners. Altavilla in turn hired several rising-star managers from Stellantis, including Maria Grazia Davino to run Germany and a handful of other central European countries, Alessandro Grosso in Italy and Alberto De Aza in Spain. The Chinese automaker offered them significant pay increases and a 'chance to grow,' a current BYD executive said. 'These were not people that we were happy to lose,' said a Stellantis source familiar with the work of the executives poached by BYD. High expectations In another sign of BYD's determination to swiftly bolster its European operations, the company last year put its No. 2 executive, Stella Li, in charge of the region. She replaced former European chief Michael Shu, who had predicted BYD would capture at least 5% of Europe's EV market before it launches production at its first European plant in Hungary later this year. BYD ended 2024, however, with just a 2.8% share and sales totalling 57,000 vehicles, below company expectations. BYD's urgency to grow in Europe stems in part from its track record of soaring sales in China, which have increased seven-fold since 2020 to 4.2 million vehicles in 2024. BYD surpassed Tesla last year as the world's top EV seller and is now the sixth-largest global automaker. BYD also faces Chinese rivals rushing to enter Europe, including Chery, Geely, Xpeng and most recently Changan. All Chinese automakers face pressure to grow in foreign markets to boost profits, which are hard to sustain in China because of a protracted price war among scores of EV brands. BYD partners and industry experts say BYD has acknowledged its Europe problems and moved decisively to address them. 'They are taking this very seriously, but they need to understand that building up a position in Europe takes time,' said Tim Albertsen, CEO of Ayvens, one of Europe's largest leasing companies and a BYD partner in the region. 'Just like European or American automakers coming to China, what the Chinese do well in China doesn't always work in Europe.' There are early signs that BYD's European reboot is showing results. BYD's European sales, including the United Kingdom, have more than tripled in the first quarter of 2025 to more than 37,000 vehicles, compared to about 8,500 in the first quarter of 2024. Aramco and BYD unveil car technology alliance BYD's strength in China in part reflects its ability to 'evolve very quickly to give consumers what they want,' said Bo Yu, China country manager at research firm JATO Dynamics. The EV giant, for instance, undercut Chinese rivals in February by offering its 'God's Eye' assisted-driving technology for free across its lineup, including in vehicles costing less than $10,000. At this week's Shanghai auto show, BYD put on an enormous display of vehicles under four different brands that dwarfed those of most other automakers. The company unveiled new models ranging from the low-cost Seal 06 and Sealion 06 - starting at about 100,000 yuan ($13,700) and 160,000 yuan, respectively - to the Yangwang U8L, an ultra-luxury three-row SUV, and the Denza Z, a high-end sports car concept. Lacking local knowledge After its meteoric rise in China, BYD expanded to Europe in 2023 with bold ambitions. Former Europe boss Shu said last May that BYD aimed to be the region's top EV seller by 2030. But BYD failed to study Europe's markets beforehand, the current and former managers said. In a telling example, BYD bought an expensive and high-profile sponsorship of the Euro 2024 soccer championship in Germany, where it billed itself as the No. 1 'NEV' maker, meaning 'new energy vehicle.' That is a term commonly used in China to describe the combined EV-and-hybrid sector - but the acronym is meaningless to German customers. BYD's initial dealer network was also too small and too concentrated in major cities, the BYD sources said. In Germany, BYD now plans to expand its dealer network to 120 locations from 27, BYD's Davino, the former Stellantis manager tapped to run Germany, told Reuters in March. Germany's is Europe's largest auto market with 2.8 million vehicles sold last year. BYD sold fewer than 2,900 cars there in 2024. 'The market in Germany is not easy,' Davino said. 'The basics are still missing here.' Former managers said BYD's core mistake prior to launching Europe was to treat it like a single market - like China or the United States - rather than dozens of different countries. One former BYD manager compared Europe's national markets to 'frogs in a pan,' all jumping in different directions, adding: 'BYD is only now beginning to learn that.'
Time of India
23-04-2025
- Automotive
- Time of India
China EV giant BYD reboots Europe operations after strategic stumbles
China's leading EV maker BYD is overhauling its European operations after strategic missteps including failures to sign up enough dealers and hire executives with local-market knowledge and to offer hybrids in markets resistant to fully electric vehicles, six current and former BYD executives said. BYD has moved swiftly to address these early stumbles in this critical export market, greatly expanding its dealer network and offering hefty pay packages to poach executives from European automakers, especially Stellantis , the executives said. The Chinese EV leader announced in December that plug-in hybrids would be crucial to its European strategy. That decision came after BYD European special adviser Alfredo Altavilla - among the key executives hired in BYD's European reboot - advised BYD Founder and Chairman Wang Chuanfu that a pure EV strategy was still a hard sell in many European countries. "He was very quick to get the message and give the input to BYD's engineers that every new model would have to come both in EV and hybrid" versions for Europe, Altavilla told Reuters. "It is necessary to educate customers in the green transition." Hires of some individual European executives have been reported, and BYD has publicly acknowledged problems in the German market. This is the first detailed account of the problems identified by executives inside BYD and its systematic efforts to address them. Most of the executives spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive strategic issues. BYD declined to comment. In December, Altavilla announced in Italy that plug-in hybrids would be "at the core of BYD strategy in Europe" moving forward, adding it would be "stupid" to go against consumer preferences by offering only EVs. BYD first approached Altavilla, a former Fiat-Chrysler executive, last June and announced his appointment in August. He had been working as a senior adviser to private equity firm CVC Capital Partners. Altavilla in turn hired several rising-star managers from Stellantis, including Maria Grazia Davino to run Germany and a handful of other central European countries, Alessandro Grosso in Italy and Alberto De Aza in Spain. The Chinese automaker offered them significant pay increases and a "chance to grow," a current BYD executive said. "These were not people that we were happy to lose," said a Stellantis source familiar with the work of the executives poached by BYD. High expectations In another sign of BYD's determination to swiftly bolster its European operations, the company last year put its No. 2 executive, Stella Li, in charge of the region. She replaced former European chief Michael Shu, who had predicted BYD would capture at least 5% of Europe's EV market before it launches production at its first European plant in Hungary later this year. BYD ended 2024, however, with just a 2.8% share and sales totalling 57,000 vehicles, below company expectations. BYD's urgency to grow in Europe stems in part from its track record of soaring sales in China, which have increased seven-fold since 2020 to 4.2 million vehicles in 2024. BYD surpassed Tesla last year as the world's top EV seller and is now the sixth-largest global automaker. BYD also faces Chinese rivals rushing to enter Europe, including Chery, Geely, Xpeng and most recently Changan. All Chinese automakers face pressure to grow in foreign markets to boost profits, which are hard to sustain in China because of a protracted price war among scores of EV brands. BYD partners and industry experts say BYD has acknowledged its Europe problems and moved decisively to address them. "They are taking this very seriously, but they need to understand that building up a position in Europe takes time," said Tim Albertsen, CEO of Ayvens, one of Europe's largest leasing companies and a BYD partner in the region. "Just like European or American automakers coming to China, what the Chinese do well in China doesn't always work in Europe." There are early signs that BYD's European reboot is showing results. BYD's European sales, including the United Kingdom, have more than tripled in the first quarter of 2025 to more than 37,000 vehicles, compared to about 8,500 in the first quarter of 2024. BYD's strength in China in part reflects its ability to "evolve very quickly to give consumers what they want," said Bo Yu, China country manager at research firm JATO Dynamics. The EV giant, for instance, undercut Chinese rivals in February by offering its "God's Eye" assisted-driving technology for free across its lineup, including in vehicles costing less than $10,000. At this week's Shanghai auto show, BYD put on an enormous display of vehicles under four different brands that dwarfed those of most other automakers. The company unveiled new models ranging from the low-cost Seal 06 and Sealion 06 - starting at about 100,000 yuan ($13,700) and 160,000 yuan, respectively - to the Yangwang U8L, an ultra-luxury three-row SUV, and the Denza Z, a high-end sports car concept. Lacking local knowledge After its meteoric rise in China, BYD expanded to Europe in 2023 with bold ambitions. Former Europe boss Shu said last May that BYD aimed to be the region's top EV seller by 2030. But BYD failed to study Europe's markets beforehand, the current and former managers said. In a telling example, BYD bought an expensive and high-profile sponsorship of the Euro 2024 soccer championship in Germany, where it billed itself as the No. 1 "NEV" maker, meaning "new energy vehicle." That is a term commonly used in China to describe the combined EV-and-hybrid sector - but the acronym is meaningless to German customers. BYD's initial dealer network was also too small and too concentrated in major cities, the BYD sources said. In Germany, BYD now plans to expand its dealer network to 120 locations from 27, BYD's Davino, the former Stellantis manager tapped to run Germany, told Reuters in March. Germany's is Europe's largest auto market with 2.8 million vehicles sold last year. BYD sold fewer than 2,900 cars there in 2024. "The market in Germany is not easy," Davino said. "The basics are still missing here." Former managers said BYD's core mistake prior to launching Europe was to treat it like a single market - like China or the United States - rather than dozens of different countries. One former BYD manager compared Europe's national markets to "frogs in a pan," all jumping in different directions, adding: "BYD is only now beginning to learn that."
