Dyson chooses Singapore to build new electric car
By Paul Homewood
Don’t say you have not been warned!
From the Telegraph:
Sir James Dyson will manufacture electric cars at a new production facility in Singapore as the billionaire inventor’s move into the automotive world gathers pace.
An internal memo to staff revealed that the company’s board had agreed a decision to build a car factory in South East Asia.
Dyson is investing more than £2bn on developing an electric car, and in August revealed plans to spend £200m building test tracks for cars at a former wartime airbase near the company’s Wiltshire headquarters. The company has 400 staff working on the electric vehicle project at the old airfield at Hullavington.
Jim Rowan, chief executive of Dyson, said that the business was “on track” with plans to launch an electric car in 2021 and the Singapore plant was set for completion in 2020.
I have been warning for some time now that a forced switch to electric cars will decimate the European car industry, and hand the advantage over to Asian car plants which currently cannot compete on quality.
Some observers have tried to blame Dyson’s decision on Brexit, but this is drivel. Dyson have for some time outsourced most of their production overseas because it is cheaper. His decision to produce EVs in Singapore is a no brainer, given that the project is starting from scratch.
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NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT 
Dyson is in favour of Brexit, I have read, so his is a highly ‘commercial’ decision.
No sensible companyr can afford to have basic manufacturing in the UK.
With high social costs, regulation and high energy costs we have priced ourselves out.
Everything the EU dropped on us we magnified and made things more difficult for business.
The Climate Change Act being the worst
I spent a lifetime running manufacturing plants in the UK and we made good money. So the banks sold us foreign owners who copied the products and IP and shut us.
German costs are all higher than ours but make things as the core of their powerful economy. (Or it was until recently when they got too cocky as they do). Their banks don’t sell them down the river.
I loath Trump but he is right about this issue. (Who explained it to him – must have taken ages!)
Gaelic speaking Mary Anne MacLeod Trump might be the person you are looking for. From the Outer Hebrides.
Apparently you are unaware that Donald John Trump is a graduate of the Wharton School of Business of The University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. The Wharton School is the world’s oldest collegiate school of business and is the business school which has produced the highest number of billionaires in the US (President Trump being one of them).
Don Trump, Jr. went to The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in finance and real estate. His sister, Ivanka Trump, is also a graduate of the Wharton School. Eric Trump graduated from Georgetown University. Tiffany Trump is a law student at Georgetown University following her graduation from The University of Pennsylvania. Barron Trump is 12 and in school in the DC area.
BTW, when used as a verb, “loath” has an “e” at the end and is thus: “loathe.” I do not have this problem as I love President Trump and thus the “e” is always there.
I believe that all, not most, of the Dyson production is overseas. And who can blame him given all the added costs and regulations we get in the UK and the EU.
The main target market for Dyson EVs must be China – a lot nearer to Singapore than the UK is.
When asked about overseas production he has stated that he would manufacture in the UK if he could find suppliers for parts, most of whom went to the wall when the pound was at 2 dollars.
“I believe that all, not most, of the Dyson production is overseas”
Mostly in Malaysia, I believe.
This is the sort of thing that President Trump in the USA is trying to discourage so as to, as he says, ‘make America great again’. I understand why Mr Dyson would want to relocate his factory and expertise in Singapore; the business climate there is so much better and less risky. The UK is ruled by a bunch of incompetents or pursuers of false science such as ‘so-called climate change’. Also the possible alternate politicians to rule the UK are communists whose Unions will make it impossible to run an efficient and profitable manufacturing business. In summary, the UK is already ruined with little chance of recovery and if I were not in my 90s I would emigrate but certainly not to Europe.
Trump also tries to make America more competitive to encourage businesses to stay. I doubt he believes all things can be made in country nor is that desirable. However, a hostile business climate drives business away. So should the fear of other countries taking over one’s industries.
Absolutely. Business leaders tell him that even more important than the tax cuts were the massive cuts in regulations. The tax changes allowed business to return from overseas locations.
Importantly, we are now energy independent AND our steel and aluminum factories are once more in production. Steel in going gang-busters with former factories being opened back up and new ones built. These were among the first things he did upon taking office as they are matters of national security.
Dyson calls himself an Engineer and wraps himself in the Union Jack. In fact he is just a stylist and has no loyalty to the people who nurtured him and buy his products. I have had two of his sweepers and the wheels quite literally fell off them.
He is not a role model for the new generation.
I will never buy anything else he makes – least of all a car!
I have a cordless Dyson and love it. Not all products work for all people.
We also have one – the battery is rubbish, doesnt hold charge for very long. Hope his car batteries arnt so inadequate.
See my comment above..
Like Conran before him, many of Dyson’s designs are flawed in practical terms. The classic example must be the ear-splitting hand drier with the thin yellow plastic that collects huge amounts of bacteria and filth. Stay well away – paper towels are so much more sensible and hygienic.
OY, just heard on LBC Radio about Lonely Planet’s top ten destinations for 2019. They clearly forgot to read the latest IPCC report.
OT …
Singapore energy stats say it all.
https://www.ema.gov.sg/cmsmedia/Publications_and_Statistics/Publications/ses/2018/snapshot/index.html
On a more positive note. At least our roads will be nice and clean. 🙂
Are looking at a Sinclair repeat ?
If James Dyson actually wanted to have a large, and immediate, impact on EVs he should buy a big chunk of an existing company — with an existing dealer network in western countries.
A more interesting approach would be to apply his talent to the power needs of EVs. The world does not need another auto company. But if EVs are to take over the world, the world will need a much better power infrastructure and all that goes with that.
Dyson’s approach has always been to design his own stuff from scratch, with his “hoover” being the classic example
Fine to do the design.
Building a car company is not the same thing.
We’ve got car companies. What is needed is the grand design.
VW or GM could build, market, and service.
What are they going to run them on?
How long is the cord?
Paul says that Asian car plants can’t currently compete on quality. I’m not sure what his measure of ‘quality’ is. Market research shows that Hyundai and Kia cars are more reliable than European made makes including upmarket ones like BMW and Mercedes though the latter are generally more sophisticated and better to drive.
On vacuum cleaners, Numatic (Henry) cleaners are very effective, reasonably priced and last for ages. Admittedly you do have to change a bag now and then. Numatic make all their machines in the UK and seem to have no problem manufacturing here successfully.
Conformance to requirement is one measure of quality.
Does anyone remember the French Renaults of the 1960’s? They were a running joke here. Let me correct: “a non-running joke.” They were likened to sardine cans with wheels or a motorized baby carriage.
Dyson talks complete rubbish regarding Brexit but given that our legacy media is populated by ignorant morons, nobody ever asks why he is an ultra Brexiteer in favour of a ‘no deal’ exit. Like Bamford of JCB fame, he is hoping for a reduction or removal of tariffs which since he has all his products made outside the EEA is a cost for his imports. Same for JCB making stuff in Brasil. So like many ultra Brexiteers, he is hoping to make money out of the misery a ‘no deal’ exit will bring. With rapidly rising unemployment there will be fewer people who can afford his expensive toys, let alone his battery car.
Perhaps Dyson read your article about Cobalt prices and the way the Chinese are becoming dominant in the EV production market….
I think it’s true that the EU ihas a deal with Singapore that electric cars built there will have 0% tariff when imported into the EU. On the other hand a no deal Brexit UK will have WTO tariffs on everything going to the EU. As Dyson is primarily a business owner with global sales is it cynical to assume that his decision was based on UK-EU taking as long as the EU-Canada deal did?
Summer of 2008. We’re back there again. Legacy press in U.S. keeps saying polls show that Demonrats will take back the House of Representatives in November elections. Zombie Nancy Pelosi back in charge.
U.S. stock markets down 8% in 2 weeks. Late summer of 2008, polls said Obama was going to win the election, triggering the 2nd Great Depression. Trumps election brought us out of it.
Now, business must reconsider their investment strategy. Trump is trying to improve the business environment in the U.S. But voters, according to polls, are yawning, and preparing to put the National Socialist party back in charge of the House.
Dyson, et al, are wise to stay the heck away from the West. The West is suicical.
Even if the Blue Wave should fail, businesses should realize that Trump’s improvements are ephemeral. Only a change in the legacy press will change the business environment in the West.
Funny, when I was a kid, the saying was “Whatever is good for GM is good for the U.S.” No more. Business – that is paying for all this happy horseshit – is the bad guy.