SHENZHEN, July 17 — BYD Auto is pressing ahead with an ambitious global factory-building campaign that officials describe as central to the company’s plan to sell 1.5 million vehicles outside China by 2025. The Chinese electric-vehicle giant now operates or has announced manufacturing projects across at least seven countries, according to state and international reports. The expansion marks a significant shift for a company that, as recently as 2022, exported only 55,000 vehicles.
By the end of 2023, overseas sales had climbed to 242,000 units. The company has entered 70 countries and regions, including Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Japan and Australia.
Thailand and Brazil anchor Southeast Asian and South American production
In Thailand, BYD opened a factory in Rayong in July 2024 with an annual capacity of 150,000 vehicles. The plant produces the BYD Atto 3 and Dolphin models for Southeast Asian markets. In Brazil, construction began in March 2024 on a factory in Camaçari, Bahia state.
The facility, also planned for 150,000 vehicles per year, is expected to open in 2025.
Europe and Central Asia: Hungary and Uzbekistan
In Hungary, BYD announced a factory in Szeged in December 2023, with production slated to begin in 2025. The plant targets the European market. BYD also operates a joint-venture plant in Uzbekistan that opened in 2023.
In Indonesia, BYD announced plans for a factory in 2024.
China’s massive home base
Inside China, BYD operates ten major manufacturing bases, including facilities in Shenzhen, Xi’an and Changsha. The company’s global workforce totals approximately 700,000 people, with roughly 600,000 employed in China and 100,000 overseas, according to available reports. The scale of BYD’s domestic operations dwarfs its overseas facilities.
The ten Chinese bases produce a range of passenger vehicles, buses and commercial trucks, as well as the batteries that power them.
What to watch next
The key question for analysts watching BYD’s global push is whether the company can meet its 1.5-million-vehicle overseas sales target by 2025. The 2023 figure of 242,000 units represents a sharp increase from the prior year, but the target would require roughly six times that volume within two years. The opening of the Thai, Brazilian and Hungarian factories in 2024 and 2025 will be critical to closing that gap.
Trade tensions also loom. The Hungarian plant, located inside the EU, may help BYD circumvent some of those barriers by producing vehicles within the bloc.
For now, BYD continues to build out its global network. The company’s trajectory from a Chinese battery maker to a multinational automaker with factories on four continents reflects a broader realignment in the global automotive industry, one in which Chinese manufacturers are moving from exporters to local producers in key markets around the world.
