China's BYD to Build First European Plant

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker BYD (Xi'An, China) has announced plans to build its first electric car factory in Europe.

The plant will be located in Szeged, Hungary, where the company already has a subsidiary company and operation, BYD Electric Bus & Truck Hungary Kft, building electric buses. The company aims to invest more than US$550 million to construct the plant in phases near the existing bus operation. It will support the company's strong push into the European car market where it now supplies five EVs: Han, Seal, Dolphin, Tang and Atto 3. It will also be the first plant of its kind built by a Chinese automotive company in Europe.

Hungary's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said that the project represents "one the most significant investments in Hungarian economic history, as a result of which thousands of new jobs will be created while boosting the role of our country in the global transition to the electric car industry. This investment also underlines that Hungary plays a leading role in the technological revolution. It was a long time ago that Hungary would have taken the lead in such a fundamental global technological renewal, and now this is happening."

Hungary's government has agreed to provide financial support for the plant but declined to say how much until the project receives approval from the European Commission (EC).

BYD stated: "Situated in the heart of Europe, Hungary is an essential transportation hub and boasts a rich history of expertise in the automotive industry. With a mature infrastructure and a well-established industrial foundation, Hungary has been chosen by several premium European manufacturers as a production location for passenger cars. This further supports BYD's decision to make Hungary the center of European production operations.

Hungary has become one of the most popular destinations for EV and battery companies to build new plants and has a pipeline of more than US$20 billion in projects. Industrial Info is tracking the largest single investment by China's Contemporary Amperex Technology Company Limited (CATL) (Ningde, China), the world's largest battery manufacturer, which is in the process of investing more than US$8 billion constructing a 100-gigawatt hour (GWh) battery plant at Debrecen to supply its European customers, including Mercedes-Benz (Stuttgart, Germany) and BMW (Munich, Germany). Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Project Database can click here for the report. Hungary's battery capacity is set to grow sevenfold to reach 207 gigawatt-hours (GWh) by the end of 2031, up from 27.5 GWh in 2021, according to Benchmark Gigafactory Assessment. For additional information, see January 31, 2023, article - Hungary Powers Ahead in Europe's EV Battery Race.

BYD outsold market leader Tesla Incorporated NASDAQ:TSLA) (Austin, Texas) in the last three months of 2023 for the first time. The company shifted 526,000 battery-only vehicles in the final quarter of 2023 compared to Tesla's 484,500--a record for the U.S. firm. Tesla still maintained its global leadership for 2023 with sales of 1.8 million vehicles for the year as a whole, compared to BYD's stated 1.6 million.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).