Searched for Mexican factory sites until last year
Trump announces auto tariffs after taking office
BYD: "Geopolitical issues impact the automotive industry"
Bloomberg reported on the 2nd (local time) that BYD, China's largest electric vehicle manufacturer, has put its plans to build a factory in Mexico on hold, citing uncertainties in the trade environment such as automobile tariffs.
Stella Li, Vice President of BYD, who attended the opening ceremony of BYD's electric vehicle plant in Cama?ari, Brazil, said, "We are still interested in expanding in the Americas, but there is no specific timeline for new investments yet."
Li stated, "Geopolitical issues have a huge impact on the automotive industry," and added, "Everyone is now re-evaluating their strategies in different countries. We want to wait until the situation becomes clearer before making a decision."
Previously, Bloomberg reported that BYD had selected three candidate sites for its Mexico plant, but had halted its search for a location in November last year while waiting for the results of the U.S. presidential election.
Subsequently, in March this year, the Financial Times (FT) reported that China's Ministry of Commerce had delayed approval for BYD's investment in a Mexican plant due to concerns over technology exposure.
In March, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum stated that BYD had not made an official investment proposal.
In this context, concerns about the global supply chain have grown after President Donald Trump announced in April that tariffs would be imposed on specific items, including automobiles. Considering the cost increases caused by tariffs, General Motors (GM) recently announced that it would move production lines for some pickup truck and SUV models from its Mexican plant to the United States.
Li said, "Due to uncertainties in the global trade environment, we are maintaining our plan to expand production bases, but when and how we will make decisions has not yet been determined."
The Cama?ari plant where the interview took place has an annual production capacity of 150,000 units. BYD plans to expand its capacity to 300,000 units per year within about two years.
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