Dyson is now looking to clean up in the electric car market with the UK Company who earlier this year was laying off marketing and sales staff in Australia now moving into electric cars, the big questions is whether their new offering will have built in vacuum cleaners?
Their plan is to build electric cars in Singapore, aiming to target the Asian market where they believe electric cars will take off ahead of the more regulated Western markets.
The vacuum cleaner Company said that their automotive facility would be built by 2020 and that they will compete head on with Tesla in the future. Dyson already makes components necessary to build vehicles, such as high-speed motors and batteries. Its teams in Singapore have made 50 million high-speed digital motors, an essential element of electric cars, now they want to build a finished product.
The UK Company has already set aside US$2.6 billion to the project, including A$450 million on U.K.-based testing and research-and-development facilities.
Singapore’s proximity to major Asian markets—including China, the world’s largest electric-car market—was key to Dyson’s choice of a manufacturing base, a Dyson spokesman said, noting high volumes in the region.
“Singapore is central to our future and we expect to more than double our team there,” Chief Executive Jim Rowan said in an email to staff Tuesday.
Analysts claim that the company faces a tough challenge breaking into an auto industry dominated by players with deep pockets and years of car-making know-how.
Last year, Dyson’s revenue rose 40% to A$6 billion, with earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization climbing 27% to A$1.4Billion. The company said growth was particularly strong in Asia and the Asia Pacific region.
“Choosing Singapore over a European approach puts away worries over the impact of Brexit on the automotive supply chain,” said Jamie MacEwan at Enders Analysis. “The only cloud on the horizon is if Dyson is eventually required to open another plant in China with a local partner, as several European car makers have done.”
