BYD recently announced that it will build an electric car manufacturing facility in Hungary’s Szeged city. The Chinese EV automakers Build Your Dream (BYD) is a close competitor to the world leader Tesla. Due to its active presence in the EU market.
Foreign minister Péter Szijjártó said in a statement posted on his Facebook page that the BYD factory “will be one of the largest investments in Hungarian economic history” and will “further strengthen the position of the Hungarian economy, further strengthen the foundations of long term economic growth, and further strengthen Hungary’s position in the global electric automotive transition. This investment underlines the fact that Hungary is a leader in the technological revolution.”
The brand has an active presence in the European market for three years, starting with Norway. Since then all witnessed that BYD not only remains a household name but the company’s expansion in the world to become the global BEV sales leader for 2023, taking over the long time champion Tesla.
BYD already has an electric bus manufacturing plant in northwestern Hungarian city of Komarom. But the recently announced factory in Szeged would be the brand’s first major consumer EV production facility in Europe for a Chinese electric car manufacturer.
According to Automotive News Europe, BYD’s factory in Europe will create thousands of new jobs in the area. Also the new plant is expected to produce 200,000 cars annually as part of a phase ramp-up.
It is also expected that the incoming production facility will produce BEVs and plug-in hybrids for the BYD brand, enabled by subsidies from the Hungarian government. The Hungarian Government also hinted that it could be one of the largest investments in the country’s economic history. However, it said it will share the scope of these investments once the European Government approves the deal.
The Chinese automaker is aiming to target a 10% market share in Europe by 2030 and has sold 13,000 vehicles on the continent till November 2023. However the Hungarian government and BYD have yet to share a timeline for the opening of the EV production facility in Europe.