Chinese Automaker Byton Is Looking for U.S. Retail and Marketing Partners

Byton may in fact be the first Chinese automaker to enter the US market in any numbers and Kirchert says the cars on sale in China later this year can be expected here in 2020 amp160The company has bases in Santa Clara California as well as Nanjing Munich and Hong Kong a big contingent of experienced western engineers BMW previously employed Kirchert and many other Bytoneers and itamp8217s stressing that its forthcoming MByte will be the best of all those worlds in design and build quality and the worldamp8217s first Smart Intuitive Vehicle call it a SIVChinaamp8217s cars are a complete unknown on the US market and will have to be introduced to American consumers amp160The argument could be made that the car will sell itself since itamp8217s a hightech luxury electric car with 72 and 95kilowatthour battery packs for a cruising range of 250 to 325 miles and a fulllength 49inch gesturesensitive display starting at 45000 amp160That of course significantly undercuts the Tesla Model X but recent fires notwithstanding buyers trust that Tesla can deliver the goodsByton and Kirchert in our interview stressed what it will be like to inhabit the caramp8217s futuristic interior which is geared to semiautonomous and later fully autonomous driving see photo at top amp160In addition to that fullwidth screen thereamp8217s an eightinch tabletlike device in the steering wheel itself it stays level as the wheel turns amp160The idea is that the driver and passengers will have a lot of time to relax as the car drives itselfamp160 amp8220It will be a comfortable living space that when it delivers Level 4 autonomy will give you back timeamp8221 Kirchert saidByton will initially have a capacity of 150000 cars annually at a brandnew factory in Nanjing amp160Kirchert emphasized that its robots and painting equipment are state of the art globally the same equipment used by BMW and other big world players amp160After five years Byton hopes to be building 300000 cars annuallySo how will Byton sell its cars amp160amp8220We will have a hybrid dealer modelamp8221 Kirchert said amp160amp8220The goal is to work with a major player to be our exclusive retail partneramp8221 amp160This doesnamp8217t mean a niche say in a Subaru dealership amp160Instead Byton is looking to work with a single experienced retail partner to market the cars amp160Those discussions are ongoing he saidWhat about advertising amp160amp8220We will do targeted marketing but not on a big scaleamp8221 Kirchert said amp160amp8220We will be at the next Los Angeles Auto Show in November and also at upscale venues such as Pebble Beach We have taken 50000 reservations globally amp160Our approach is to encourage a core group of enthusiasts and then grow it from thereamp8221 amp160Online will be important Kirchert said but of course all startups say that Byton just opened an upscale amp8220experience centeramp8221 Byton Place in Shanghai and will probably follow suit in other global capitalsTesla doesnamp8217t advertise but it gets a billion dollars worth of free publicity every time Elon Musk opens his mouth amp160Upscale enthusiast brands such as Ferrari donamp8217t advertise either because they get walltowall coverage in auto magazinesDoes Byton need to advertise amp160I think it probably does amp160Auto advertising is ubiquitous in China itself where automakers have to work hard to stand out in a crowded field amp160The aim from the ads Iamp8217ve seen is to associate the brand with upscale living which probably wouldnamp8217t be hard to do in Bytonamp8217s caseThe novelty of the first electric car from China will garner a lot of media time but it wonamp8217t necessarily last all that long amp160Advertising will be necessary to keep the car in the public eye especially as the marketplace for crossovers is so crowdedKirchert predicts that half of the Mbyteamp8217s market will be China and the rest split between North America and Europe amp160The caramp8217s chassis was designed to support other iterations of the car and both a sevenseat SUV and a sedan are coming amp160All will be for sale in North AmericaPhoto courtesy of BytonClick the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writersamp160amp160

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Chinese Automaker Byton Is Looking for U.S. Retail and Marketing Partners

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Jim Motavalli

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Chinese Automaker Byton Is Looking for U.S. Retail and Marketing Partners

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