This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.
The original was posted on /r/cars by /u/hi_im_bored13 on 2025-06-23 01:22:17+00:00.
Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBbiCrsk7RM
The complete title was a bit click-baity so I've trimmed it a bit - but its faithful to the content. The content itself is also a bit ... eager to get views, and so I'm a bit hesitant to share it, but not often do you get first hand experience from journalists dealing with the chinese market like this.
In summary.
- He received an invite to the UK launch of the BYD sea-lion 7, which asked for his "rates of collaboration"
- Paid "journalism" is extremely common in China where you are expected to wax lyrical on the companies you work with, with contracts forbidding negative remarks and giving the brand final-cut approval
- This is very obviously contrary to how it is done in the west, where there is an extremely clear distinction between journalism and paid advertisement by so-called influencers.
- He himself turned down a similar offer from JAC earlier this year, and knows others who do accept such offers
- Also raises concerns on human rights issues e.g. BYD getting sued by the Brazilian government for slavery-like conditions at their factory .
BYD themselves in china sued 37 influencers for defamatory comments, has 126 influencers on a watch list, and provides financial incentives up to ~700k for leads on online defamation of the brand.
Now BYD alleges “We welcome media criticism and public oversight, but we will not tolerate defamatory content or false accusations,” but thats not consistent with their ruling, e.g. a court concluded an influencer was fined after claiming BYD was financially unstable and on the verge of bankruptcy
When there are reports to corroborate this e.g. GMT Research's analysis suggested their actual debt is closer to $44 billion and that they are "addicted" to supply chain financing - their reported figure is 27.7 billion yuan or ~$4b.
Not exclusive to BYD either – Huawei did a video a few months prior comparing their Maextro S800 to the Maybach S680, with their own coming out on top, but they were called out by an influencer for deliberately deflating the tires on the MB. Influencer was sued for $140k, and he countersued for $340k.
IMO its somewhere in the middle - having tried a few models here and there the chinese do make some fantastic products, he also mentioned "I’d be arrested if I set foot in China," but foreign journalists are rarely jailed for civil defamation. And while I feel suing under defamation for the financial analysis is unwarranted, hidden leverage is not inherently a red flag and BYD is still profitable, it doesn't prove they are on the verge of bankruptcy.
In general, I do think he leans a little sensational. There is an element where the Chinese are genuinely leading with tech and most american and european manufacturers use e.g. their batteries. There have also been substantial moves on the ethics side e.g. many products are now using LFP batteries which are free of cobalt.
But point is it is worth keeping in mind that reviews, even from western reviews for a western audience nowadays, may not be what they seem and it is good to keep an eye out for the fine line between performance and propaganda.
And to be clear, that is not exclusive to chinese companies, especially outside of automotive, but its just the topic at hand. Tesla notably sued Top Gear for example, and he mentions their Chinese arm does much of the same as BYD. Its not particularly surprising either to those who have dealt with chinese companies domestically, but doing the same at a worldwide scale is a relatively recent phenomenon.