BYD isn’t looking to bathe in the glory of becoming the world’s best-selling manufacturer of battery-electric vehicles and is continually looking for areas where it can expand. Its next big move could be the establishment of a factory in Mexico.
For all the sales success that BYD is enjoying, it knows it needs to grow sales beyond China and while recently speaking with Nikkei Asia, BYD Mexico country manager Zhou Zou said the brand believes Mexico has vast potential, noting that overseas production is indispensable for a brand like BYD.
According to Zou, BYD has already launched a feasibility study into a Mexican plant and is having discussions with local and national governments about a location. Nikkei Asia suggests BYD could be looking at the Nuevo Leon state in the north, the Bajio region in central Mexico, or the Yucatan Peninsula in the south.
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Establishing a manufacturing site in Mexico will also be of crucial importance to BYD if it ever expands into the United States. By building EVs in Mexico, it could in theory be eligible for federal EV tax credits and would also be able to benefit from cheaper labor costs compared to those in the U.S. Various other brands have also confirmed they will build EV factories in Mexico, including Kia, BMW, Stellantis, and Tesla.
While global sales of EVs slowed slightly last year, Zou said there is no reason to be worried, noting that EVs and plug-in hybrids are growing in every market worldwide. In Mexico, new car sales rose by 24% to 1.36 million last year and Chinese vehicles accounted for more than 120,000 of them.
It is unclear when BYD’s planned Mexican factory could be up and running but this year, it will open facilities in Thailand. It has also announced a $605 million investment to build a plant in Brazil and committed to establishing a site in Hungary within three years.
