BYD Plans to Acquire Existing Southern European Plant for Second EU Production Base

BYD is considering acquiring an existing car plant in Southern Europe as one of the options for establishing its second vehicle production base on the continent, with Spain now on the final shortlist. Li Ke, Executive Vice President of BYD, stated that the company prefers acquiring existing facilities over building new ones, though she did not disclose other candidate countries or a timeline for the final decision. Currently, BYD’s first European factory in Hungary is scheduled to begin production in the fourth quarter of 2024—about a year later than originally planned. Meanwhile, the previously announced factory project in Turkey has been temporarily put on hold. In 2023, BYD sold 188,000 vehicles in the European market, a 270% year-on-year increase. From January to May 2024 alone, sales have already surpassed 100,000 units, more than doubling compared to the same period last year. Local production in Europe helps BYD avoid the additional tariffs the EU has imposed on Chinese-made electric vehicles. Amid overcapacity in Europe’s automotive industry—particularly in Western Europe, where high labor and energy costs persist—several automakers are seeking to sell or lease idle production capacity. Stellantis Group has publicly expressed willingness to rent out underutilized plants to Chinese automakers. Alfredo Altavilla, Senior Advisor for BYD Europe, noted that given the EU’s proposed “Made in Europe” rules—which may require vehicles to contain a certain percentage of locally sourced components—and the possibility that these regulations could take effect before new factories come online, Chinese automakers generally view acquiring and retrofitting existing plants as the only viable path forward at present.