China's BYD to Establish Own Factory in Europe... "Preferred Over Acquiring Ford Plant"

[Asia Economy Beijing=Special Correspondent Kim Hyunjung] China's largest electric vehicle company BYD is considering building its own production plant in the European region, Bloomberg reported on the 7th (local time).

According to the report, Li Ke, BYD Vice President, said in an interview with Bloomberg at the North American headquarters in Pasadena, California, "We do not focus on facilities of any specific company." He explained, "We are conducting a feasibility study to review future plans," adding, "The target country for the facility construction has not yet been decided."

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

BYD declared the suspension of internal combustion engine vehicle production in March last year and has been focusing on electric vehicle production. Previously, it entered negotiations to acquire Ford Motor Company's production plant in Germany, but the sale conditions including the acquisition price have not been confirmed. Bloomberg cited a source familiar with Ford's German plant sale, stating, "Ford has held sale-related discussions with 15 potential investors, including BYD, regarding its plants in Germany."

After successfully popularizing electric vehicles, BYD is accelerating its overseas expansion. BYD's electric vehicle sales last year reached 1.86 million units, significantly surpassing Tesla's 1.3 million units, standing out in the market. The company also announced plans to sell vehicles throughout Europe, including Germany, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, France, and the United Kingdom. Recently, BYD has been focusing on expanding production bases. It is already constructing its first Southeast Asian production plant in Thailand and has an assembly line in India. The negotiation to acquire Ford's German production plant is also part of this effort.

In particular, Vice President Li expressed a strong intention to actively enter the Latin American market in the interview. He said, "We are aggressively approaching dealerships not only for passenger cars but also for commercial vans, buses, and taxis in Latin America," emphasizing, "We will raise the electric vehicle adoption rate in Latin America from the current below 2% to 10-20% within the next 3 to 5 years." He added, "This change will start with corporate and government vehicles."