BYD, Soon In A Home Near You

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

It used to be a common joke in China that makers of refrigerators entered the car business by adding wheels to their refrigerators. (Don’t laugh: GM sold their Frigidaire business in 1979, after 50 years of making refrigerators.) Now, BYD comes full circle. They will enter the home appliance business.

BYD had been in the electronics and battery business before they became a car maker. Supposedly, they wanted to be a big player in the EV Field. Instead, their conventionally powered F3 led the charts for many months. In June, their sales dropped, and Credit Suisse warned they might not reach their annual target, says International Business Times.

Now BYD is planning to enter the home appliance market, with a yet undisclosed product that is supposed to launch in the second half of the year.

Gasgoo says that BYD wants to establish four business units: IT, automobile, new energy and home appliance. If not a refrigerator, how about a solar powered deep fry cooker?

Bake Your Donut.

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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  • Blowfish Blowfish on Jul 12, 2010

    Nothing wong as long as your fridge keeps the Budweister cool and dairies fresh. Only one country I knew people enjoyed warm beer.

    • Syke Syke on Jul 12, 2010

      You mean there's another way to drink it?

  • Mr Carpenter Mr Carpenter on Jul 12, 2010

    That's because Lucas make the 'fridges, blowfish (joke - it's a joke) (for those totally in the dark, we're joking about the British who seem to think room temperature is what beer should be drunk at) (drunk being the apparent operative word, from what I've seen....) badum-bump. rimshot.

    • Syke Syke on Jul 12, 2010

      Lucas also makes heart pacemakers. And that's not a joke.

  • Obbop Obbop on Jul 12, 2010

    Hey!!!!!!!!! I bought a brand new Frigidaire refrigerator/freezer, 18 cu ft version with the freezer at the top, a year ago last June. It worked for three days during the the first 2-1/2 months. The 2nd repair finally fixed it BUT... the repair dude contracted by Frigidaire had to modify the device so it was modified greatly from the way it left the factory. Holes drilled in the outer case; behind the freezer area and towards the bottom near the floor. New lines running outside the case vice inside. Various parts replaced. Basically, my fridge is UNIQUE!!!!! A one-off unit that any reputable firm would have/should have replaced rather than force the fridge to undergo MAJOR surgery and for me to do without a fridge for over two months while waiting for parts to perform the second repair. The unit has functioned since that refurbishment but be warned. I would NEVER recommend Frigidaire to anybody after what I underwent.

    • YotaCarFan YotaCarFan on Jul 12, 2010

      Your Fridgidaire repairman sounds like some of the mechanics at my local Lexus dealer :) My guess is he yanked out the faulty Electrolux parts and replaced them with BYD ones that didn't quite fit right, necessitating the surgical approach :)

  • Dynamic88 Dynamic88 on Jul 12, 2010

    Off on a tangent here, but what the heck. Maybe the Chinese will approach 'fridge design in a fresh way. The two big problems with most 'fridges are; 1. Doors that open from the front (vice top) let all the cold air out, very quickly. If a fridge were designed to open from the top (like a chest freezer) the denser cold air would tend to remain inside even when the door is open. At least more so than with front door 'fridges. 2. If we must have front door models, they should be wider and not as deep. It's too hard to get stuff out as there is other stuff in front of it. Shallower but wider makes sense for getting at the food. As an aside, I'd like a 'fridge that runs the length of my kitchen cabinets, mounted directly under the cabinets, but still well above the counter top. Basically a series of modular 'fridge compartments, connected to each other. The compressor, fan, and even the coils don't really have to be in the kitchen.

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