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On the 16th of July, BYD announced its plans to establish a facility in Cambodia, marking the latest step in its global expansion. This Cambodian facility will complement the six other announced plants outside of China in Brazil, Turkey, Thailand, Hungary, Indonesia, and Uzbekistan. BYD’s global expansion comes at a time when many countries are looking to impose tariffs on Chinese imported vehicles to protect their domestic automotive industries.
The Current State of Play
The majority of BYD’s vehicles are produced at its three plants in China: Shaanxi, Hunan, and Guangdong, aligning with its largest customer base. In 2023, BYD sold 2.57 million of its total 2.7 million vehicles in China. However, BYD has struggled to gain market share outside of China, with the growth of its exports not proportional to its domestic sales. After China, its next biggest customer base in 2023 was the Asia Pacific other region, including Thailand, Malaysia and Australia. BYD aims to double its vehicle exports in 2024 compared to 2023.
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia has emerged as a hub for EV production in recent years. BYD already has a production facility operational in Thailand, with a capacity of 150,000 units per annum. Additionally, it has confirmed plans to build another 150,000-unit plant in Indonesia, scheduled to begin operations in January 2026. The Cambodian plant will be an assembly facility capable of processing 20,000 units per annum for local and export markets. Although the EV market share in the region remains small, it is growing. With three facilities in Southeast Asia, BYD hopes to capture the emerging market and use the region as an export hub to the rest of the world.
Europe
BYD plans to establish an EV production facility in Hungary within the next three years and has announced another facility in Turkey, set to become operational by the end of 2026. Both plants will have a capacity of 150,000 units per annum. This expansion comes as Chinese EV makers exporting to the EU and Turkey face higher tariffs. In 2023, BYD sold just over 15,000 vehicles in the EU & EFTA & UK according to the Rho Motion EV & Battery Database. In the first six months of 2024, it has already matched this figure. Targeting Europe as a key area for expansion, BYD recently sponsored the UEFA European Football Championship to boost its brand presence in the region. Additionally, BYD benefits from the lowest tariff of any Chinese imported vehicle under the EU’s newly introduced tariffs.
South America
BYD’s facility in Brazil is currently under construction and is set to become operational by the end of 2024 or early 2025, with a capacity of 150,000 units. The company’s presence in the region was limited in 2023, but sales have increased exponentially in 2024. Brazilian BYD sales in the first six months of 2024 increased by over 1,800% compared to the same period in 2023. Brazil has import duties on EVs that are progressively increasing to 35% by July 2026. BYD’s facility will help mitigate the impact of these duties and expand its presence in the region. Building brand identity has also been a focus in this market, with the company sponsoring the recent CONMEBOL Copa América.
Uzbekistan
BYD’s facility in Uzbekistan became operational in January 2024, with a capacity of 50,000 vehicles per annum. Additionally, BYD plans to establish a joint venture with local player UzAuto. With its facility, BYD aims to cater to the growing EV market in Central Asia.
Rho Motion’s evaluation
BYD is one of the few pure EV players capable of operating at a profit, with Tesla being the other notable player. This financial stability allows BYD to expand globally with relative ease compared to other players that operate at significant losses. With more countries increasing import tariffs on EVs, BYD has planned ahead with facilities in Brazil, Hungary, and Turkey. Its facilities in Southeast Asia will also serve as strategic locations for further global expansion and export. When all its facilities are up and running, outside of China BYD will have a global production and assembly capacity of 820,000 units per annum, with scope to expand this further.
More information
We recently released the Q2 edition of the Rho Motion EV Production Outlook, this report tracks EV manufacturing across 30+ major automotive producing nations by BEV and PHEV out to 2030, to find out more see here.
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