Another piece of good news is coming from Byton. It has snatched up a distribution license from California, hinting that the company will sell cars in the US.
Byton Nanjing facility photo, courtesy Byton.
Byton just announced it has created BYTON Cars California, LLC, as its retail entity, laying the cornerstones for the company’s hybrid retail strategy in the USA, one that will involve direct sales as well as sales through partners.
The California distributor license – along with the establishment of BYTON Americas, LLC – means Byton will be able to sell and conduct vehicle service using its own infrastructure, like Tesla does. This definitely an important step toward Byton electric vehicle sales across North America. Byton also told us it will use automotive retail and after-sales service through partners.
Jose Guerrero, Managing Director of BYTON Americas, said: “From the beginning, we believed that a hybrid retail model was essential in order to provide BYTON customers with the best possible ownership experience. We’re building a retail model that has never been attempted in the US. The next pieces of the puzzle will be selecting our retail & after-sales service partners and securing our California dealer license.”
We just covered that Byton unveiled the production version of its first model, the M-Byte SUV, at the Frankfurt Auto Show — with its groundbreaking Shared Experience Display (SED), which the company says is an industry first with its 48-inch screen.
We recently wrote about the company’s state-of-the-art production facility in Nanjing, China, as well. This is one of the last pieces falling in place to facilitate the launch of the Byton M-Byte in China next year, and its launch in the US and EU in 2021.
My, how startups grow up!
I remember talking about a little unknown Californian startup called Tesla Motors over a decade ago. It was highly criticized in the comment section back then. I remember how carmakers used to scoff it off, then ridicule it, and finally got annoyed. They then acknowledged it and finally even heralded the startup for its acumen and modern business model. As time goes by, other startups rise to the occasion, add to what was new, and bring on engineers and visionaries who worked on previous electric vehicles (EV). And thus the automotive industry transitions from transportation to modern mobility, continuing to do what it always did best — share its knowledge, hire from one another, and keep that ball rolling forward to our greatest delight.
Congratulations to Byton for a perfect transition from startup status to a full-fledged automotive company.
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