If it were not for protectionism, BYD would be wiping the floor in the EU and US with customers who want affordable cars, never mind affordable electric cars.
True, but protectionism doesn't prevent BYD from destroying the export TAM of US and EU automakers, whose international sales via exports are diminished by BYD's ramp. The EV printer will continue to go brrr, and with time will come progress in this regard. Legacy automakers are scooping up profits while they can (vs more effort to transition to EVs) before they're out of runway (and as their TAM shrinks to domestic markets where protectionism protects their profits).
If it were not for protectionism, BYD would be wiping the floor in the EU and US with customers who want affordable cars, never mind affordable electric cars.
True, but protectionism doesn't prevent BYD from destroying the export TAM of US and EU automakers, whose international sales via exports are diminished by BYD's ramp. The EV printer will continue to go brrr, and with time will come progress in this regard. Legacy automakers are scooping up profits while they can (vs more effort to transition to EVs) before they're out of runway (and as their TAM shrinks to domestic markets where protectionism protects their profits).
Citations:
Global EV sales soared in February, as China’s market kept its growth pace with 76% surge - https://www.scmp.com/business/china-evs/article/3302051/glob... - March 12th, 2025
Global EV Sales Up 50% in February 2025 - https://rhomotion.com/news/global-ev-sales-up-50-in-february... - March 12th, 2025
https://archive.ph/T0KVJ