I saw a review of the $11K BYD car. Part of the way they had reduced costs was by having the company’s own divisions make and sell a lot of the parts, like the motors, battery packs, transmission, headlights, infotainment, etc.

The divisions also sold to other car makers, but they obviously charged less for their own internal brands.

The U.S. AND European car makers are essentially systems integrators, buying parts from vendors like Denso, Magna, Continental, Bosch, etc. then assembling them together.

I imagine it would be impossible for car makers using this model to reduce costs below a certain level. They would have to completely redo their business models.