Americans Under 40 Buy Chinese Electric Cars
Some people are saying that the reason Joe Biden has increased tariffs on Chinese electric cars to, well, from 27.5%, that was from Trump, to 102.5% is simply political.
He doesn’t care either way, but he’s doing it to appease voters in order to win the election.
it is interesting because in light of this recent survey, it appears as though a lot of Americans don’t actually agree with Biden making that decision.
In fact, they actually want to buy cheap Chinese electric cars.
Americans under 40 want to buy cheap Chinese electric cars despite privacy concerns.
Public Opinion on Chinese Electric Vehicles
Now, I don’t know, I think maybe a lot of people don’t think these privacy concerns are legitimate.
Clearly, the US government does think China is using their smart cars to spy on America.
Younger vs. Older Americans’ Views on Privacy
younger people in the US are open to purchasing vehicles made by Chinese brands despite privacy concerns.
The report issued yesterday found 35% of respondents aged 18 to 80 said that they would buy a Chinese brand of vehicle, this is Americans.
76% of respondents under 40 said that they would consider a Chinese vehicle.
So 76% of people under 40 years old don’t care. They’re like, Well, so what? If the car is good, if it’s a BYD electric car, I’ll buy it.
So maybe the Biden administration did realize Americans want them and was like, Whoa, hang on a minute, we have to stop this.
So Only 26% of Americans over the age of 60 said that they would. In other words, if you’re young, you don’t care.
Popularity Among Younger Consumers
If you’re young, a lot of the young Americans I know don’t even own cars. People living in New York, for example, a lot of them don’t own cars, don’t have a driver’s license.
They’re probably just waiting for autonomous cars and couldn’t care less either way. But this was people who actually drive.
BYD’s Market Strategies and Plans
76% of people under 40, and they’re like, What bring BYD no worries, bring them here.
Consumers are willing to consider the idea of Chinese brands, President and Chief Analyst at Autopacific.
Social media has simply just made the world a lot smaller, he said.
It is extremely easy for anyone to see what’s happening in other parts of the world to see what products are available in other parts of the world.
I actually don’t agree with Kim on this point. It’s true that there is some interest from Americans in Chinese EV manufacturers such as BYD.
There’s not that much, though. Now, BYD is a little bit different, there’s more interest in BYD.
Potential Effects on Market Dynamics
But when it comes to the majority of Chinese automakers, Americans don’t appear to be all that interested.
I don’t know if that many Americans, even under the age of 40, are really that interested in Chinese electric car brands.
It’s not from what I’ve seen, but I could be wrong. While no Chinese cars are currently for sale in America, controversy over higher tariffs on EVs from China and a possible trade war with China has emerged this year amid a presidential election.
Those concerns have grown as Chinese automaker BYD plans to build its hybrid pickup assembly plant in Mexico.
Legacy Issues and Quality Perceptions
Now, BYD was they had revealed only about two months ago that they were going to make a massive EV gig factory in Mexico.
Use that to sell EVs to Americans. Now, BYD might have said, otherwise, they might have said, Oh, we won’t sell. We’ll just sell a few cars to Americans.
Byd’s plan was clearly to flood the American car market with affordable EVs. Why would you blame them? That’s their business.
That’s what they do. Should Chinese cars go on sale in the US, there would be concerns over privacy, says automotive news.
Just under half a respondent said they’d be concerned about their privacy if Chinese vehicles were to come to America, while 34% said they would be somewhat concerned.
Privacy concerns are consistent across age groups, with more than 70% of respondents in every category saying that they would have some measure of concern.
Now, clearly, people under 40 said they would have some measure of concern about it, but not enough to prevent them from buying a Chinese vehicle.
Older consumers are less likely to purchase Chinese cars because of the influence of legacy issues.
They believe Chinese cars aren’t very good, and they say Chinese stuff is crap.
There’s that impression, and I think it’s unfounded, but that’s what the impression is. Negative political connotations associated with China just don’t apply to younger people, said the survey.
16% of respondents said if they knew vehicles from Chinese brands were made in America, their willingness to purchase would increase.
Manufacturing location is important to foreign brands because it helps change the opinions of Americans’ consumers, said Kim.
But that’s not really factually true, because really, if Americans cared about that, they’d only buy Teslas. the average Ford and GM vehicle is not really made in America.
Less than 50% of the parts are actually made in America. I don’t know if that’s really true.
I think a lot of Americans have to have seen that every single year, Tesla is like one, two, three, four in the most America-made vehicles.
Consumers don’t really point that out as a reason for buying Tesla. I’m sure there’d be some, but I don’t think many do.
Role of Manufacturing Location in Consumer Decisions
Now, here’s what Kim said who was doing a survey.
He said it helps position the automaker in the eyes of the consumer as something more American, a company that’s contributing directly to the American economy and paying American workers.
millions of vehicles sold in America are made in Mexico, and many of those parts in those cars come from China or South Korea.
I’m not really convinced that that’s actually true. I think people just want the best vehicle they can get for the money.
The cheaper that vehicle is that they can afford, the better that car is, they want to get it. They don’t really care who makes it.
They just want to get the best car that they can afford. If that car happens to be Chinese, well, so be it.
That’s what it appears most people under the age of 40 are saying. How will this affect the election because, well, I don’t know.
I don’t think this will change people’s decision to vote because you either vote Trump or Biden. Both of them are very anti-Chineese right now. You don’t have much choice.