Why This Topic Landed in Japan

BYD's global EV push and its entry into Japan's unique kei-car class have put the quality, safety, and support expectations of Japanese buyers under a spotlight. The viral complaint — an owner's video showing a hood lock with none of its screws left — is a single owner's account, not evidence of a model- or lot-wide defect. The Racco's move into Sri Lanka and Macau is reported as a launch and the start of orders, which does not establish that it is "not selling at all" in Japan or being cleared as surplus, so "defective" and "dumping stock" run ahead of what is confirmed. Even so, Japanese users folded the story into a familiar frame: cheap-and-shoddy cynicism about Chinese cars, links drawn between unpaid wages and sloppy assembly, and the memory of Hyundai's earlier retreat from Japan.

Key Reaction Themes

  • Distrust of Chinese-car quality and safety led the thread — "cheap and nasty," "just a matter of breaking sooner or later," frequently tied to poor pay and labor conditions producing careless assembly.
  • Concrete safety worries — a hood flying open at speed, the apparent lack of a warning light, and whether kei-car underpinnings can carry the weight.
  • Doubts about fit for the Japanese market — warranty and service, price, the absence of advertising, and the oddity of exporting a kei-spec car, with repeated comparisons to Hyundai's withdrawal.
  • A contrarian minority pushed back that 1,500-plus domestic preorders mean it is, in fact, selling.

What Japanese Netizens Are Saying

The missing hood-lock screws

An owner posted an angry video claiming a BYD's hood lock had none of its screws left, and users weighed in on build quality and safety.

Black China ブラックチャイナ
Black China ブラックチャイナ
@superwangbadan
·

BYDのEVを買った人 「ボンネットから異音が…とチェックしたらネジが全部抜けてるやんけ！」 SNSでこう愚痴ったところ、コメには中の人らしき人物からの声が。 「2交代制でどんな良い車ができるんだよ。ネジが落ちる？んなもん当たり前だ」 「みんな給料分の仕事しかしないよ」 Show more

李老师不是你老师
李老师不是你老师
@whyyoutouzhele

比亚迪车主称机盖锁体螺丝缺失，网友：“问薪无愧” 9月29日，一名比亚迪车主在抖音发布视频称，高速行驶时发现机盖晃动，锁体螺丝“一个不剩”。 评论区，多名员工、网友将话题转向工人待遇和生产压力： “不是我打的螺丝，我是焊工。两班倒能造出什么好车啊。螺丝丢了很正常。”

Watch on X
Image
Image
Image
Reply
Read 89 replies

Sources: 2ch

Comments:

  • "It's just a matter of whether it breaks sooner or later — don't sweat it."
  • "That's just how Chinese cars are."
  • "They're reliably this sloppy, so we can stay relaxed — the day they get serious is when we'd start to panic."
  • "A car that runs even without the screws — what a marvelous machine."
  • "Amazing how people justify a rolling coffin with 'low pay, bad conditions.'"
  • "It's a company only about 20 years into the auto business — durability and safety come second."
  • "Come to think of it, the Racco has markings on every single screw. Maybe, since forgetting to tighten one is normal, they inspect the Japan-bound units."
  • "At this rate they're probably torquing even the important parts at random — or maybe those are just left temporarily fastened too, lol."
  • "If the hood opens while you're driving you can't see ahead, so it's really dangerous. And does BYD not even show a warning when the hood comes loose?"
  • "The hood lock — is that the one you release by sticking a finger into the slightly open gap? I honestly can't picture what 'no screws left' even means there."
  • "They say auto-parts firms are having protests over unpaid wages — if the wages aren't paid, this is what you get, isn't it."
  • "This is quality where the suspension drops off mid-drive — a hood catch is getting off lightly."

The "Racco" kei-EV's weak Japan sales

Reporting that BYD's "Racco" kei-EV is struggling in Japan and moving into Sri Lanka and Macau drew skepticism about its fit for the market.

日本経済新聞 電子版（日経電子版）
日本経済新聞 電子版（日経電子版）
@nikkei
·

BYD、軽EV「ラッコ」を海外販売　スリランカとマカオから nikkei.com/article/DGXZQO…

www.nikkei.comBYD、軽EV「ラッコ」を海外販売　スリランカとマカオから中国・電気自動車（EV）大手の比亜迪（BYD）は4日、日本向けに販売している軽EV「ラッコ」を海外で販売することを明らかにした。まずはスリランカとマカオで販売を始める予定だ。日本発の軽EVの海外市場開拓に乗り出す。神奈川県平塚市のBYDの販売店で同日開かれた国内納車1万台の記念式典で、報道陣に明らかにした。マカオでは既に予約受け付けを始めているという。スリランカでは9日に発表会を開き、販売を開
Reply
Read 43 replies

Sources: 2ch

Comments:

  • "Wait, didn't domestic preorders alone top 1,500 units? That's selling like crazy."
  • "It's a repeat of Hyundai."
  • "Told you so — they'll post huge losses and pull out."
  • "This thing looks absolutely weak to flooding."
  • "So did it sell or not, which is it? Macau aside, is Sri Lanka even suited to EVs?"
  • "If you divert a model that's supposedly a huge hit in Japan to other markets, there won't be any left for the Japanese — is that really okay?"
  • "I'm getting a whiff of withdrawal. Will Autobacs even service these?"
  • "The head of BYD Japan did say to drop the idea of entering Japan's kei-car market."
  • "Even the dealers who'd repair a breakdown will pull out soon enough."
  • "Under 1.5 million yen it might have sold."
  • "Can kei-car underpinnings even hold up 1.2 tons of vehicle weight in the first place?"
  • "Are they even advertising? I've never seen any — no matter how good a product is, it won't sell if few people know about it."
  • "Outside Japan, is there even any need to fit it to the kei-car standard?"