Shanghai Auto Show: BYD, Get A Handle On This

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

This is the BYD F0. I’ll leave it to the experts which other car this resembles. It reminds me a bit of that car, but maybe only because it’s so small and red. It should be red. It’s embarrassing.

The dashboard is a bit like this. But that’s what you get when mounting freestanding gauges.

That’s not the point of the story. When this guy climbed of the car, I saw an odd piece of plastic.

This was a door handle. If your car doesn’t survive the first day of the auto show without the door handle getting ripped off …

… if the door handle remains unfixed on the second day of the show, and if your people turn their backs on the problem in their own booth, then you have no business making cars.

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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  • Type57SC Type57SC on Apr 22, 2011

    the Dodge Durango at the detroit show this year had a loose door handle too. not as bad as this, but loose on the exterior and not hitting the strike plate well.

  • MrBostn MrBostn on Apr 22, 2011

    I look forward to the "Hello Kitty" Edition

    • Bertel Schmitt Bertel Schmitt on Apr 22, 2011

      Even BYD would not copy that. The Chery "Hello Kitty" QQ is several years past.

  • Joe This is called a man in the middle attack and has been around for years. You can fall for this in a Starbucks as easily as when you’re charging your car. Nothing new here…
  • AZFelix Hilux technical, preferably with a swivel mount.
  • ToolGuy This is the kind of thing you get when you give people faster internet.
  • ToolGuy North America is already the greatest country on the planet, and I have learned to be careful about what I wish for in terms of making changes. I mean, if Greenland wants to buy JDM vehicles, isn't that for the Danes to decide?
  • ToolGuy Once again my home did not catch on fire and my fire extinguisher(s) stayed in the closet, unused. I guess I threw my money away on fire extinguishers.(And by fire extinguishers I mean nuclear missiles.)
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