BYD will start building electric cars in Europe

BYD has confirmed it’s building a new production facility in Szeged, Hungary as it continues to rapidly expand its presence in Europe.

The Chinese carmaker claims the “state-of-the art facility” will have an “advanced car production line”. At this stage BYD hasn’t disclosed when the new production plant will open, though it has said it will be built in phases.

BYD expects this factory to create “thousands of local jobs”, and will have integrated vertical supply chains to help create a local “green ecosystem”.

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It’s worth noting BYD already has a manufacturing presence in Hungary, as the company has an electric bus factory there.

The electric bus plant began operations in 2017 and the company has since recorded sales of over 600 electric buses in 12 European countries.

It’s unclear which BYD vehicles will produced at this Hungarian passenger car production facility, though the Chinese carmaker currently produces both electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) in China.

BYD currently has an EV-only line-up in Europe, including the Atto 3 small SUV, Dolphin hatchback, Seal sedan, as well as the larger Han sedan and Tang SUV.

The Seal U electric mid-size SUV is also set to launch in the European market imminently, along with two other new models within the next 12 months.

BYD has been busily expanding around the world, recently entering markets like Mexico and Japan.

Since launching its Atto 3 in Australia in 2022, it has been on a tear locally. The company introduced the Dolphin hatchback and Seal sedan in Australia during 2023.

In 2024 BYD’s local distributor EVDirect has already confirmed the brand plans to launch a plug-in hybrid SUV in the first half of the year, and a plug-in hybrid ute in the second half of the year. Camouflaged prototypes of both have already been spied in Australia.

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