Hyundai CEO Warns US Faces Cheap Chinese EV Wave — SkimNews
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- Hyundai Motor CEO Jose Munoz told Reuters in San Jose on Thursday that Chinese vehicles are already 30–40% cheaper than comparable brands in Italy, Spain, and France even with European tariffs in place, and warned the US could face the same wave without safeguards.
- The UK, which lacks those trade barriers, illustrates what Munoz is warning about: Chinese brands now hold over 15% of new car registrations, EVs have become cheaper than petrol cars, and BYD's UK registrations nearly doubled to 48,265 through August, pushing its market share from 1.92% to 3.48%.
- BYD's Dolphin Surf, the brand's cheapest UK model, starts at just £18,675 (~$25,000) — undercutting the Kia EV3 ($29,890) and Hyundai IONIQ 5 ($35,000) now arriving in the US.
- Ford CEO Jim Farley has separately called Chinese EVs an "existential threat," noting China has capacity to build over 50 million vehicles, and told employees in July to prepare for Chinese competition in the US within 5 to 10 years.
- Trump told Fox News last week he would be open to letting Chinese automakers into the US market if the vehicles are built domestically, even as a 100% tariff on Chinese EV imports currently blocks access.
Why it matters: The 100% US tariff on Chinese EVs is the only thing shielding American automakers from a price war Hyundai and Ford's CEOs say is coming — the UK example shows what happens without barriers, where BYD nearly doubled registrations and Chinese brands took 15%+ share in eight months. With Trump already signaling conditional openness to Chinese-built-in-US vehicles, the clock is ticking on that protection, and Ford's Farley says entry could come within 5 to 10 years.
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