Tesla need not worry too much about BYD, but everyone else should be gripped by panic, says author and Asia-focused automotive industry consultant Michael Dunne, of Dunne Insights. Dunne is the former managing director of J.D. Power China and author of the book ‘American Wheels, Chinese Roads,’ which chronicled GM’s entry into China. It’s considered the best English-language book explaining the inner workings of China’s 2000s era automotive industry. In his latest newsletter, Dunne explained tha

The China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) reported that the Chinese market sold 9.533 million new cars between January and June 2023. Out of these sales, a total of 2,093,000 cars were battery electric vehicles (BEVs), making China the world's largest EV market. While BYD retained its dominant position in the market with 524,184 BEVs sold, which accounted for 25.04% of the market share, Tesla’s Model Y was the best-selling model (not just BEV) in China for the first half of 2023 (H1 2023) with

Tesla has officially made its grand entrance into the Malaysian market with the launch of the Tesla Model Y electric vehicle (EV), spearheading the brand’s presence here. The model comes fully imported (CBU) from China. As reported earlier, prices start from RM 199,000 for the base rear-wheel drive (RWD) variant, RM 246,000 for the all-wheel drive (AWD) Long Range variant, up to RM 288,000 for the range-topping AWD Performance variant. Looking at the performance figures, the base Model Y with a

Toyota and Tesla, the two big Ts of the automotive world cannot be any more different. Toyota is the antithesis of Tesla, and vice-versa. On one side of the extreme, Tesla sees nothing wrong with using their customers to test features with unproven safety - kudos to Elon Musk for convincing his fans to pay USD 15,000 for the privilege to be become a Tesla lab rat. Get the products out first, fix the problems later is Tesla's way of doing business. On the opposite end you have Toyota. There is a

Alongside the facelifted Cooper S range, MINI Malaysia has launched the facelifted 2021 MINI Electric, also known as the MINI Cooper SE. It comes fully imported (CBU) from UK, priced at RM 217,470 (OTR without insurance, with SST discount and extended warranty/service package). The pre-facelift model was sold at RM 218,380, hence a price drop of just under RM 1k. Unlike the petrol-powered MINIs, the front grille does not extend to bottom edge of the new front bumper. But the fog lights are repla

You’re probably familiar with the name John Cooper thanks to the aggressive MINIs that has rolled off the line and onto our roads. But do you know who John Cooper really is and why his name is synonymous with MINI’s fastest and most aggressive cars? John Newton Cooper was born in 1923 in Kingston, Surrey. He and his father Charles Cooper founded the Cooper Car Company to fuel John Cooper’s and his childhood friend, Eric Brandon’s racing dream. He is well known for being the founder (Audi would b