BYD EV Enters Europe With A 5-Star Euro NCAP Safety Score

Chinese automaker BYD has paved its entry into the European auto market with a 5-star NCAP safety score, it was announced this week.

China’s biggest home-grown automaker, BYD received its 5-Star rating for the Atto 3 EV crossover, and is using the European New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) success as a cornerstone of its assault on the European market.

More than most, Europe’s car buyers scrutinize NCAP scores, with a long list of success stories directly translating into sales and unlike the US, European automakers leverage the ratings in their marketing campaigns.

BYD, which counts Warren Buffet as a major stakeholder, will offer the Atto 3 in Europe for €38,000 (around US$36,500) and plans to bring the larger Han sedan and Tang SUV to support it.

That will give BYD a three-car range in six European nations (Norway, Sweden, Germany, The Netherlands, Denmark and Luxembourg) as the initial focus, along with Israel. It plans to expand over the coming months into other subsidy-supported EV states, while the Atto 3 (called the Yuan Plus in China) has also been launched in India.

German car rental giant Sixt last week confirmed it would buy 100,000 cars from BYD in the near future.

The Atto 3 is the latest in a long line of Chinese cars being thrown against NCAP walls this year.

Great Wall received 5-Star ratings for the Wey Coffee 01 hybrid and the Ora Funky Cat EV sedan from its sub-brands earlier this year.

Other Chinese-engineered cars to hit the wall include the Citroen C5 X (developed with Dongfeng) and the Renault-Jiangling Motors joint effort, the Mobilize Limo, both of which scored four stars.

The Mercedes-Benz EQE electric sedan not only received a 5-star crash rating in the latest raft of assessments, but scored the highest ever NCAP score for driver-assistance systems.