BYD is going to build its first European car factory in Hungary as the Chinese juggernaut specializing in electrified vehicles aims to take on the continent’s established players.
The Chinese automaker had been assessing a host of European countries for more than a year and had considered Germany and France as locations for the site. It has ultimately settled on the southern city of Szeged after months of courting from Hungary’s prime minster Viktok Orban who in October, visited the headquarters of BYD in Shenzhen, China.
No details have been made public about the size of the factory, how much it will cost, or when it will be up and running. What it did say is that the plant will create “thousands of local jobs.” Hungary’s foreign minister Peter Szijjarto added that the government will provide subsidies for the plant but will only publicize the amount when the deal is approved by the European Commission.
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Szijjarto described the deal as “one of the biggest investments in Hungarian economic history.”
Speaking with the New York Times, Bernstein analysts predicted the site will take two to three years to build and produce approximately 200,000 vehicles annually. BYD currently operates a plant in the Hungarian city of Komarom where it makes electric buses.
The nation’s prime minister, who has been in conflict with the EU over various issues, including concerns about the erosion of the rule of law, has actively sought economic investments from countries like Russia and China in recent years. One of the biggest investments Hungary has secured is a €7.3 billion ($8 billion) battery plant that China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology is currently building in the city of Debrecen. A new site in Hungary may help BYD avoid any possible import tariffs that could be introduced following the European Union’s ongoing investigation into Chinese EVs.
