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Transportation China Power

Electric Vehicle Sales Are Booming In South America (reuters.com) 119

Posted by BeauHD from the gaining-ground dept.
Chinese automakers are rapidly expanding across South America, boosted by the new Chinese-built Port of Chancay, aggressive pricing, local partnerships, and growing regional demand. Reuters reports: China has been ramping up sales since the opening last year of the Port of Chancay, north of Lima. The Chinese-built megaport has halved trans-Pacific shipping times just as Chinese manufacturers face rising barriers to entry in the United States and greater trade restrictions in Europe.

BYD, which makes EVs, plug-in hybrids and combustion engine cars, plans to open a fourth dealership in Lima by the end of this year, while Chery and Geely have more than a dozen in total in Peru. Chinese carmakers face a profit-destroying price war at home and a growing surplus of new cars rolling out of Chinese factory lines. Much of this excess is being shipped overseas to the Middle East, Central Asia and Latin America, according to global automotive analyst Felipe Munoz at JATO Dynamics.

The Chinese have "carved out space," across both electric and petrol-powered cars, said Martin Bresciani, president of Chile's automotive business chamber, CAVEM. "The Chinese have already demonstrated that they match global standards in quality." Chinese brands reached 29.6% of all new passenger car sales in Chile in the first quarter of this year. [...] Part of China's success has been partnering with trusted local importers to offer more affordable models tailored to regional tastes, according to seven dealerships Reuters spoke to in Peru, Chile, Uruguay and Argentina.

Electric Vehicle Sales Are Booming In South America More | Reply

Electric Vehicle Sales Are Booming In South America

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  • Meanwhile in the USA (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Powercntrl ( 458442 ) on Monday November 17, 2025 @08:48PM (#65801827) Homepage

    Our cheapest EV starts at $30k for a Nissan Leaf. No wonder I've been seeing more people riding around on e-scooters lately.

    • Our cheapest EV starts at $30k for a Nissan Leaf. No wonder I've been seeing more people riding around on e-scooters lately.

      Yep, because it’s not just EV it’s also gas vehicles [cnbc.com]. The average went from 30k in 2012 to 48k in 2022 and they aren’t coming down much because of greedflation.

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by rsilvergun ( 571051 )
        It's not just greenflation. Companies have realized that they can make more money focusing on the top 10% of consumers and just what the bottom 90 go to hell. If they had the slightest fear of competition then they wouldn't take that risk because a competitor might work their way up in the cheaper markets and then jump into the more profitable ones, but since we don't enforce antitrust law because we're busy freaking out about trans girls playing field hockey in the Midwest you can kiss that goodbye.

        • Re: (Score:2, Troll)

          by markdavis ( 642305 )

          >"If they had the slightest fear of competition then they wouldn't take that risk because a competitor might work their way up in the cheaper markets and then jump into the more profitable ones"

          There are many manufacturers that sell all kinds of vehicles in the USA. Some made completely abroad from various different countries. Some domestically. And a lot are a complex mixture of the two. But you think there is a grand conspiracy/collusion among them all of them to deprive consumers of lower-priced/l

          • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

            by RossCWilliams ( 5513152 )

            you think there is a grand conspiracy

            I see nothing in his post that suggests a conspiracy. Just an acknowledgement that there is more money to be made serving the rich.

            Do you seriously think that having concern about "trans sports" is preventing antitrust enforcement?

            He didn't say that either. He's pointing out the obvious that there are lots of important issues and that isn't one of them. Its being used to distract from those more important issues. Just as it is here.

            • >"Just an acknowledgement that there is more money to be made serving the rich."

              Oh, there certainly is more money to be made there. But with far less volume. Most companies will try to have products of all ranges to cover all the market. That is true for most car manufacturers as well.

              >"He's pointing out the obvious that there are lots of important issues and that isn't one of them."

              It isn't terribly important to you or him (apparently). And it isn't all that important to me, either. But to many,

              • Re: (Score:1)

                by Anonymous Coward

                Most companies will try to have products of all ranges to cover all the market.
                true

                That is true for most car manufacturers as well.
                false
                https://www.coxautoinc.com/ins... [coxautoinc.com]

                But to many, it is very important.
                false
                There are many who pretended to be concerned on this issue. They then voted for sex-trafficking pedophile who has personally assaulted more women than have been affected by trans people in sports.

              • Most companies will try to have products of all ranges to cover all the market.

                The new car market is mostly people who are relatively wealthy. People who are really price conscious generally buy used. They aren't generally competing with other companies on price but on features and quality. So if they offer a car at a lower the price, instead of expanding the market, they would simply be selling the same customer a lower priced car instead of a higher priced one.

                Its the same phenomena with home builders. You have land and a crew to build a house. You build a large house with lots of

          • There are many manufacturers that sell all kinds of vehicles in the USA. Some made completely abroad from various different countries. Some domestically. And a lot are a complex mixture of the two. But you think there is a grand conspiracy/collusion among them all of them to deprive consumers of lower-priced/lower-end models?

            Yes. Why else do you Chinese cars are outright banned in this country? Plenty of people on Youtube drive these cars and yes they are better quality and literally half the price. Domestic auto makers are scared shitless.

            • >"Yes. Why else do you Chinese cars are outright banned in this country? Plenty of people on Youtube drive these cars and yes they are better quality and literally half the price. Domestic auto makers are scared shitless."

              Oh, I don't doubt that the banning of Chinese cars is protectionism but also security related. We aren't banning Korean or Japanese cars... or cars from anywhere else. Just China. More than one thing can be true at the same time.

              I honestly don't know if the Chinese car ban is a net/o

              • "security related" is another of those economic FUD reasons. Its damn hypocritical too when USA can sell fighter jets to its allies that have a kill switch in USA's hands and spy on their allies too.
            • The cars don’t meet the specifications to be sold in the US. They lack crash safety, and other things that does reduce the price and adding them for just the American market would slightly increase the cost as well because it lacks economies of scale. That said the price difference wouldn’t be much and absolutely minor things are being used as a barrier to free markets.

              • Bullshit. The EU has more stringent safety standards than the USA and BYD has no trouble in that market.

                • The biggest difference between China and the EU safety compliance are more safety systems like brakes airbags cameras headlights pedestrian crash requirements etc where as US has NHTSA and IIHS, China has C-NCAP and historically they are quite different although they are converging somewhat lately. This means the EU compliance was largely accessories while the US was more structural and accessories. Getting US compliance would be costly and increase the cost per vehicle even beyond the EU. Just as I sai
          • “ 1) Do you seriously think that having concern about "trans sports" is preventing antitrust enforcement? That is quite an assertion, and a ridiculous one at that. 2) They are not "trans girls" playing, they are males. And they have many or most (if not all, in many cases) of the sports advantages of males, and it greatly diminishes the value of female sports competition. 3) It is far from just "field hockey in the Midwest", it has been across all kinds, ages, and levels of sports, except where it is

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

            There are many manufacturers that sell all kinds of vehicles in the USA. Some made completely abroad from various different countries. Some domestically. And a lot are a complex mixture of the two. But you think there is a grand conspiracy/collusion among them all of them to deprive consumers of lower-priced/lower-end models?

            The big 3, which have American brand loyalty up the wazoo, realized in the 90s they made more money on bigger vehicles. They they've been marketing bigger and bigger vehicles to America

          • There have been long standing tariffs of near 100% on foreign trucks in the U.S. This means domestic producers can produce a mediocre truck, then mark it up to a 100%+ profit and still be competitive. This means domestic producers focus on shitty, expensive trucks, and won't produce modestly priced sedans because they can just sell trucks instead into a protected market.

        • Companies also realized Americans have no transportation alternative, and get to choose between absurdly high house prices and a crushing car commute, or slightly less absurd house prices and an even more crushing car commute. Either way, the car is mandatory, and housing prices effectively become capitalized into car prices.

          There's no reason to sell cars for cheap in America. If you can keep competitors out, you can charge almost unlimited amounts for something people absolutely have to have.
        • True, but doesn’t that going after the top 10% and ignoring the rest kind of unnecessarily greedy?

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by 0xG ( 712423 )

          If they had the slightest fear of competition then they wouldn't take that risk because a competitor might work their way up in the cheaper markets and then jump into the more profitable ones, but since we don't enforce antitrust law because we're busy freaking out about trans girls playing field hockey in the Midwest you can kiss that goodbye.

          Winner of the longest sentence of the day award right here.

      • >"Yep, because itâ(TM)s not just EV itâ(TM)s also gas vehicles [cnbc.com]. The average went from 30k in 2012 to 48k in 2022 and they arenâ(TM)t coming down much because of greedflation."

        Part of that is due to the inclusion of ever more and more features and safety equipment. Even the lowest-end vehicles, regardless of propulsion method, are packed with stuff that used to be seen only on higher-end models. Another part is that vehicles kept getting bigger and bigger. For example, look at

      • You can still buy gas burners for ~$20k. They may be small sedans and people may not want those things, but they exist, and some of them in that range are actually pretty good cars.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      They would rather not sell you a car. More profitable to sell you a loan to buy a car, or even better just lease it to you for a monthly fee, then take it back and sell it to someone else, maybe in a different market.

      List prices are mostly to deter people buying those cars, but at least in the UK if you look around you can usually get them with a very hefty discount. Mine was about 30% off.

  • We need BYD in canada. Fuck american cars, unloyal american car companies and all their stupid fascist BS, government and culture. Produce BYD cars instead. I want my 9k-19k ev please. Would be finally worth ditching the beater for.

  • The infrastructure required to perpetually get decent to good quality petrol to where it's needed is insane. For electric you just need a battery, some solar cells and you're good to go. Petrol throughout south America is notoriously bad, often mixed with (bad) (m)ethanol and often a gable to fill in your tank. Its not uncommon for adventure bike riders to bring an extra spare piston and cylinder along in case you frag yours beyond repair and need to replace it somewhere in the ass-end of Patagonia.

    That doo

    • Exactly how many solar cells would you need to charge a Tesla model 3 between the hours of 10pm and 6am?
  • If I buy a car in South America and drive it back to the US, how/where will I be obligated to pay tariffs? Will I be able to just drive across the border unimpeded or will the authorities make me pay?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Sique ( 173459 )
      You have to pay the tariff to register the car with the DMV. I don't know how long non-U.S. license plates are accepted for a car driving in the U.S., but I would expect it to be limited to 12 month.
    • I looked into bringing a Mexican car (the Ford Ka) into the US. You will be forced to bring it up to US safety standards. Strengthen the B pillar, pad the dash more, etc. The extra weight will destroy the fuel economy and the performance, as well as cost thousands to do. Not worth it.

    • The easiest thing is probably title the car in South America and just never switch it over.

  • The US is diverging from *everywhere* else (Score:3, Insightful)

    by shilly ( 142940 ) on Tuesday November 18, 2025 @02:33AM (#65802159)

    As I’ve said before, the story of cars in the last year and the next few years is going to be one of the US cutting itself off from the rest of the world through a series of policy choices that mean its automakers rely on a market with a scale of 15m a year while other manufacturers compete in a market with a scale of 60m a year for those without access to the US and 75m a year for those with access. That diseconomy of scale and the batshit attempt to push water uphill by trying to stop electrification is going to mean Americans have a small range of shitty choices for their car purchases compared to everyone else. Smelly, noisy, oversized, poor build quality, poor tech, data slurping, etc it’s going to be a cut-off market like Cuba.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by DrXym ( 126579 )
      It's not just auto manufacturing but industry in general. China has stolen an insurmountable lead on renewables, EVs, battery tech, robots and other forms of manufacturing & the resources needed to make them.

      Meanwhile America, instead of innovating or competing has decided to go protectionist, using tariffs to stop domestic manufacturers getting kicked to the curb because they suck so hard. That can only work for so long, but after that?

  • Who could have seen this coming? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by DrXym ( 126579 ) on Tuesday November 18, 2025 @03:54AM (#65802229)
    While America was imposing tariffs on everyone, other countries were re-aligning their trade to less hostile countries. China wants to do business and so it gets the business.

  • I just bought my first hybrid, the 2025 Toyota Camry XLE. I couldn't be happier! It accelerates faster than my Audi A4 and it more than doubles my miles per gallon. I receive 530 miles per 13 gallons of 87 octane fuel range. I can refill in 3 minutes and keep going like any normal internal combustion engine. Toyota makes the best EVs and everything they learned from the Prius is making it's way across their entire fleet. Lexus as well.

    The problem with EVs is the charge network. Only Tesla does it right.I pe

    • Toyota Hybrid gang here too. I'm on my second (sold my first one to my ex-): I didn't put that many miles on my first but it was flawless, had great range and cheap to operate.

    • You're letting bias affect your judgement. If you buy the absolute cheapest electronic widget in the USA it's going to be on par with the cheapest widget from China. The fastest EV is Chinese made and the fastest EV around the Nurburging is also Chinese. The myth that they make trash is long dead.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by njvack ( 646524 )

      I am sure the Chinese will build out an infrastructure for EV charging. But they are not known for quality control and safety. So many dangerous Chinese products across the board.

      ...

      I wouldn't trust a Chinese EV at all. I certainly wouldn't park one in a garage attached to your house.

      China is perfectly capable of making products with excellent quality control and safety; they're as good or better than anyone else. They manufacture iPhones for Pete's sake.

      Yes, China makes a bunch of the cheapest, most terrible products out there, because a lot of people want to buy cheap stuff and Chinese manufacturers want to sell cheap stuff. Sometimes, that means they're buying something unsafe. Going to the bargain bin for batteries is not a great plan.

      Would I buy a BYD on the first year of import an

  • I can't imagine that South America's electrical grid is in better shape than the US's. Where are they going to charge these things?

  • I live in Panama and there is a HUGE Chinese car presence here. Every day I see more and more of them on the road, as they are cheap and cheerful with appealing styles for not a lot of money.

    However. what I don't see much of is *electric* Chinese cars. The models sold here all seem to have a virtually identical 2 litre single turbo petrol engine. There are a few electric models available but they're not making much of a market impact - unsurprising because there is very limited charging infrastructure here

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