Will the BYD Destroyer be the next car from the brand here in Malaysia?
Chinese electric vehicle (EV) giant BYD recently launched a new version of its Destroyer 07 hybrid car at a starting price 11.3 percent lower than its predecessor, Reuters calculations showed. This is definitely a result of the ongoing EV price wars in the country to keep prices competitive.
Here in Malaysia, the BYD Destroyer 07 is sold as the BYD Seal and was only recently launched in the country. It had a very attractive starting price of RM180,000 but it is notably a fully electric vehicle here and not offered in a hybrid variant which, I feel, may be a much better option than a full EV.
Moreover, The BYD brand is already very popular here in Malaysia and globally as well and the brand already has 3 models on sale here, namely, the Atto 3 SUV, Dolphin hatchback and Seal sedan, all of which are fully electric cars. It also recently became the number one exporter of EVs globally.
This means that if the brand decides to bring in this slightly cheaper hybrid version of the BYD Destroyer 07 here in Malaysia, it will likely be on par with some Japanese D-segment sedans in terms of prices and perhaps it may even undercut these prices slightly making them a more attractive option to choose from.
However, one must keep in mind that given this car will have an internal combustion engine (ICE) powertrain, it likely will be priced far over the EV BYD Seal. This means that it will likely be more trouble than its worth given the high price it will be forced to come in with but perhaps the brand can find a way around this.
On top of that, if BYD can also manage to build the car locally, then maybe it can have it priced competitively enough that it does undercut other non-local D-segment sedans here in Malaysia. Since Honda will not be bringing in the new generation Accord here, this gives the Chinese brand a good opportunity.
Well, at the end of the day, many carmakers are only bringing in EVs into the country and not hybrids because the Government is only offering incentives for fully electric cars and the tax relief only applies to these types of cars and not plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs).
We got all this form Reuters and their full article is linked here. Thank you Reuters for the information and images.
