With the new Yangwang U8, the BYD group is the targeting the luxury market
- BYD, which follows the strategy of other Chinese carmakers by increasing the number of brands in its catalog, created in 2023 a new Premium brand called Yangwang. This new brand presented in China last year a huge F-segment SUV measuring 5.32 m long, 2.05 m wide and 1.93 m high, called U8. This 3.5 ton vehicle has just been presented for the first time in Europe at the Geneva Motor Show in March 2024.
- The Yangwang U8 is not a battery electric vehicle like many BYD brand models, but a plug-in hybrid vehicle (PHEV) which nevertheless has four electric motors (one in each wheel) and a 49 kWh battery, which allows it a range of 200 km without using the thermal engine, a 2-liter turbo gasoline engine. The overall power reaches the phenomenal figure of 1,197 hp.
- The Yangwang U8 is equipped with state-of-the-art technology that allows it to move in water for 30 minutes like an amphibious vehicle or turn around on the spot like an assault tank …
- Obviously, the price of the Yangwang U8 is related to the size and performance of the machine, i.e. approximately 150,000 euros.
- However, this vehicle seems poorly suited to the European market, but rather intended for the North American market. The Yangwang U8, however, demonstrates the progress made by Chinese carmakers in the premium and luxury markets, which allows them to compete without complexes with brands like Mercedes, Audi, BMW, Porsche and even Bentley and Rolls-Royce. The F-segment market fluctuates between 400,000 and 500,000 units each year.