‘The only thing that terrifies me is BYD’: Politicians quake at Chinese EVs

Capitalists when socialism for the rich 🥰🥰🥰

Capitalists when ruthless capitalism (they have actual competition now instead of owning 20% of 5 megacorps that own everything) 💢👺😡🤬

Stop quaking and pay your engineers a fair wage. Assholes.

Engineers in the West may be paid more, but Chinese carmakers pay much less.

Last year we read that Brazil sues China carmaker BYD over 'slave-like' conditions

Authorities halted construction of the plant late last year after workers were found living in cramped accommodation with "minimum comfort and hygiene conditions", the MPT [Public Labour Prosecutor's Office] said.

Some workers slept on beds without mattresses and one toilet was shared by 31 people, it said in a statement.

The MPT also alleged that construction site staff had their passports confiscated and were working under "employment contracts with illegal clauses, exhausting work hours and no weekly rest."

Prosecutors said the workers had up to 70% of their salaries withheld and faced high costs to terminate their contracts.

"Slavery-like conditions", as defined by Brazilian law, include debt bondage and work that violates human dignity.

Just a few weeks ago, a similar incident arises in BYD's plant in Hungary.

Forced labour is an integral part of Chinese production, including EV and other car makers, simply because there are no labour rights in China as is the case in the EU and other democratic regions. One report from 2024 revealed how car companies’ complicity in forced labor in China.

And the abuse is by far not limited to workers but to the entire supply chains.

But OP, who frequently and deliberately spread Chinese propaganda, finds a great audience here.

As an addition:

BYD (and all other Chinese companies) not only hires Chinese migrant workers under slavery-like conditions, it has also been relying on a fully-integrated supply chain with suppliers exclusively from China, and it has been paying these suppliers by issuing promissory notes issued on Dilian, an electronic payment platform BYD itself launched in 2018 which is not regulated by authorities.

According to LSEG (an independent data provider for financial markets and infrastructure), it took BYD an average of 127 days to pay suppliers and other short-term creditors in 2024, up from 81 days in 2019.

This means that the brutal price war in the Chinese car industry and pressure from companies like BYD has forced parts suppliers to cut prices and accept longer payment periods via payment tools developed and run by BYD itself.

A few months ago, BYD reportedly ditched its Dilian platform, but this remained unconfirmed (to the best if my knowledge). As the report says:

It has been reported that if BYD suppliers want to cash in their notes early with the automaker's bank partners, they do so at a discounted rate. A discount rate of 6% for some BYD notes was cited by some sources. Bank notes [that are often used by other manufacturers] usually have a discount rate of less than 2% if cashed in early.

@iocase@lemmy.zip

@hperrin@lemmy.ca

And risk Musk NOT becoming a trillionaire? Please.

stop gouging customers of your EV and add-ons.

And design things that make sense, not overblown, unearned egos.

Por que no los dos?

Just to be devil's advocate BYD will be subjected to the same regulations for safety with any other car that's being sold in the US. It won't be unregulated or uncontrolled. Why not let BYD stir the market so other car company won't focus on maximum profit from monopoly.