Video by Leah Carroll. Words by Donal Byrne.
It would seem Irish car buyers are well disposed to the wave of Chinese cars already on the market. And a recent survey from DoneDeal shows why: price.
The survey found that 72% of people believe Chinese brands offer better value than other brands, and 61% have a positive perception of Chinese car brands.
However, 41% of respondents say that resale value concerns would stop them from buying a Chinese car. So the brands have a way to go before they can claim true mainstream status in Ireland, at least, but the embedding process looks like it is well underway.
I have noted before that Chinese companies are following a well-worn path in their sales strategy. Like the Japanese and Korean companies before them, they are focusing on prices and levels of standard equipment that are hard for other manufacturers to compete with.
Add in the ability of big Chinese companies to absorb tariffs and you have a very strong position from which to take on the traditional big names in the Irish market.
Last week saw the arrival of another two cars in the BYD line-up, BYD being the first big Chinese name to arrive here in 2023. It has already sold 5,000 cars here. In January of this year alone, it has sold just over 1,000 cars.
The Seal 6 Super Hybrid in saloon and estate versions brings the BYD model line-up to seven, and there will be another five models launched by the end of the year.
Neither of the two new cars is all that striking in design, either externally or internally, but they are good-sized cars, and the price is very keen indeed. The saloon starts at €37,490 and the estate at €38,999.
That's about €2,000 more than a Toyota Corolla or a Skoda Octavia, which is a narrow gap indeed given their size. Both are 4.8 metres long, 1.8 metres high and 1.5 metres wide and have very impressive interior space.
Both are driven by a 1.5 petrol engine and come with motors ranging from 135 kW to 156 kW outputs. There are two versions of each - the Boost and Comfort - but both get decent levels of standard equipment.
Things like heated and ventilated front seats are standard, as are a 360-degree camera, and a large centre screen - sized from 12.8" to 15.6" - matched with a decent 10" driver information screen.
The saloon has a good 491 litres of boot space, and the estate has a 500 litre capacity - and a total of 1,535 litres with the seats folded.
BYD says its hybrid system is more EV than combustion and is claiming a combined petrol and motor range of up to 1,350 kilometres for the estate, and up to 1,505 for the saloon. The engine is there to power the battery, and the company claims high levels of electric-only driving are possible.
However, we will wait to see what the real-world figures are.
The warranty is for 150,000 kilometres, or six years, and the battery warranty is for eight years or 250,000 kilometres.
Both cars have been awarded the maximum five-star rating in the EuroNCAP crash test programme.
