[Dippy]

Chinese EV maker has launched its low-cost Dolphin Surf EV in Europe. It is the brand’s 10th model to go on sale on the continent.

The model is sold as the Seagull in China. The car will sell at three price points, from 22,990 euros (approx. Rs. 22 lakhs) for a 322-kilometre range, to 24,990 euros (Rs. 24 lakhs) for a 507-kilometre range. The three versions will be available at a discounted price of 19,990-24,990 euros until the end of June, sales chief Patrick Schulz said.

The launch of the Dolphin Surf will pile pressure on European carmakers to offer more affordable EV options, with cost still being a major barrier to the wider adoption of electrics.





As of now, only a handful of models, such as the Dacia Spring or Leapmotor's T03, are on sale in Europe for under 20,000 euros, although 11 new models priced under 25,000 euros will go on sale this year, including Volkswagen's ID.2, the Renault R5, the Fiat Grand Panda, and the Hyundai Inster.

"The compact segment is the next frontier for electrification in Europe," Maria Grazia Davino, BYD regional managing director for markets including Germany, said in Berlin. "We think this market has huge potential."

Sales of the Seagull have risen 45% to 170,000 globally so far this year, said BYD. BYD surpassed Tesla last year to become the world's largest EV manufacturer. The brand will enter 12 new markets in Europe this year, Davino said, with sales locations to expand to over 1,000.

Source: Reuters

Link to Team BHP news

[guptad42]

It's not exactly the same as the Seagull sold in China.

• The European Dolphin Surf is 210mm longer and 40mm taller than the Chinese Seagull. A bigger body, and looks more proportionate as a result.
• Dolphin Surf also comes with a bigger battery, and the top model has a more powerful motor.

This is normal for BYD. They try to localise the cars to the market's preference and perception. For example, BYD also upsized the Dolphin when it was launched in Europe to position it a class higher and gave it more performance.

[TheHelix0202]

The real question is their naming scheme - why’s a dolphin that much smaller than a seal? xD

[itwasntme]

Review by Autocar UK:
https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-review/byd/dolphin-surf

[notme]

Originally Posted by Dippy

The model is sold as the Seagull in China. The car will sell at three price points, from 22,990 euros (approx. Rs. 22 lakhs) for a 322-kilometre range, to 24,990 euros (Rs. 24 lakhs) for a 507-kilometre range. The three versions will be available at a discounted price of 19,990-24,990 euros until the end of June, sales chief Patrick Schulz said.

After deducting a 10% import duty and a 17% tariff, the cost comes down to around 16 lakhs comparable to a Tata Nexon EV, So Indian manufacturers are already competitive enough in this space.


https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/23/byd-...fs-report.html

[guptad42]

Originally Posted by notme

After deducting a 10% import duty and a 17% tariff, the cost comes down to around 16 lakhs comparable to a Tata Nexon EV, So Indian manufacturers are already competitive enough in this space.


https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/23/byd-...fs-report.html

Several factual issues with this view:

1. Tata has not made even a single model of a proper native EV. When Tata Motors can launch the gen 3 cars on a fully native EV architecture, we can do a better comparison. As Mahindra's experience shows us, it takes a lot of fresh learning. Here, we are comparing a fully native EV architecture from BYD with a jugaad product where Tata Motors X1 platform (from late 1990s!) has been adapted and fitted with motor and batteries. Tata motors has made progress in things like calibration, but the basic deficiencies of the old ICE platform cannot be hidden - the space inside the nexon ev is poor for its external footprint on the road, and the nexon also suffers from ergonomic issues like an uncomfortable knees-up seating position on the rear seat.

2. We are comparing European export market price, not BYD's cost of production in China vs Tata Motors in India. BYD routinely marks up their Euro export models partly for the costs to meet the European standards and duties, but also to earn a much larger profit per car than their domestic market. BYD are able to do this because the European carmakers' EV pricing is even higher for comparable models.

3. BYD has its own native R&D, tech capability, and production scale in all major EV tech - batteries and packs, BMS, power electronics, motors, EV design and construction with far fewer parts. Even Mahindra had to do their born/native electric models by buying EV tech from suppliers rather than waiting to develop it in-house.

Tata Motors will probably get there in some areas in 10 years, but in others they are not even trying. They are happy to buy from other vendors including the Chinese. This outsourcing approach can give you cost advantage when tech is mature and standardised, and your vendor can specialise and scale. But it does not work when the tech is rapidly evolving - it often means your products are 2-3 generations behind in capability or cost. For example, look at the energy density of LFP batteries Tata Motors buys vs the energy density of latest LFP production from BYD or CATL. And, just google for the number of engineers in BYD's R&D department...

4. Look at teardowns of BYD seagull (Dolphin Surf's smaller China version). The quality of manufacturing and design shocked top automakers - clean welds and attention to design detail that provides a far higher quality and experience to users, while lowering costs. So far, Tata Motors cannot even compete with Indian made Maruti Suzukis and Hyundais in this regard, let alone global majors. Tata Motors prefer to tell buyers 'this is normal'. So, their chances of becoming competitive in this aspect are remote.