BYD Seal Comes To Mexico!

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BYD continues its global expansion, and Mexico continues its arrival as a new, serious EV market. The BYD Seal is now available for purchase in Mexico. This follows the arrival of the BYD Dolphin in Mexico just a few months ago, the BYD Yuan Plus/Atto 3 a little bit before that, and the Han (sedan) and Tang (SUV) earlier in 2023.

As Juan Diego Celemín Mojica noted last week, the BYD Dolphin still isn’t at price parity with gas-powered competitors in its class. You can take total cost of ownership into account and things should look much better, but most people don’t do that. Still, more EVs are getting into Mexico, price parity in important classes is getting closer, and EV sales are sure to rise in our neighbor down south.

The Seal is a different animal, though. (Literally, but let’s not even go there.) Whereas the Dolphin costs 535,900 pesos, or $31,300, in Mexico, the Seal starts at 778,800 pesos, or $44,600 — for the RWD version. The higher price for the AWD version is 888,800 pesos, or $50,850 (about $13,000 more than it costs in China). The Seal is in a higher class and thus competing for sales to somewhat higher-income buyers.

Interestingly, the Tesla Model 3 AWD starts at 985,900 pesos ($56,400), and the Model 3 Performance starts at 1,154,900 pesos ($66,000). So, the Seal AWD is right below the cost of a comparable Model 3. How will the two models perform on somewhat neutral soil?

Courtesy of CarNewsChina, here are specs for the BYD Seal:

AWD

• 390 kW (160 kW + 230 kW), 670 Nm peak torque
• 3.8 seconds 0–100km/h
• 82.56 kWh LFP Blade battery
• 520 km range WLTP

RWD

• 150 kW rear motor, 310 Nm peak torque
• 7.5 seconds 0–100km/h
• 61.44 kWh LFP Blade battery
• 460 km range WLTP

Notably, the Seal uses a battery cell-to-vehicle chassis. “Drawing inspiration from the Ocean X concept car, the BYD SEAL is a dynamic and powerful pure electric sedan. In addition, BYD SEAL is also the world’s first production model equipped with CTB (cell-to-body) Technology, which achieves new breakthroughs in safety, handling, and efficiency,” Stella Li, Executive Vice President of BYD Company Limited and President of BYD Americas, said. “BYD SEAL has received a five-star Euro NCAP safety rating, which reflects BYD’s relentless pursuit of high automotive quality and safety.”

I’m eager to see Juan compare these vehicles, particularly the 2024 BYD Seal, to gas-powered competitors in this class. Clearly, BYD sees Mexico as a ripe new market to target. The company is also reportedly looking to set up a factory in Mexico. I expect an announcement on that front in 2024.

And, one has to really ask now: how long until BYD works its way into the US market? Is auto trade protectionism too high for that to happen anytime soon? Would a Mexico BYD factory sourcing lithium from South America and processing it in one of these regions result in BYD electric vehicles finally arriving on the US market? We don’t know, but what we do know is that Mexico itself is becoming a fun market to watch!