BYD is ready to produce cars in Hungary from 2025

There is now a date: 2025. Two new car factories will come into operation in Hungary next year: one by BYD and the other one by BMW. This is claimed by Reuters, which quotes the chief of staff of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Gergely Gulyas.

"Optimism for next year's economic policy is supported by current developments, as the new BYD and BMW plants will start production in the second half of next year," Gulyas said. Indeed, the Hungarian government expects the country's economy to grow by 3.4 per cent in 2025, driven also by the production of electric cars and batteries.

An important estimate, given that, as Automotive News recalls, the Hungarian economy entered a technical recession in the third quarter (-0.7 per cent compared to the previous three months).

More new from China's auto industry:

Tariffs on Chinese EVs: China files a complaint with WTO

China braces for tariffs as auto production reaches record high

A solution to the 'duties' problem

Let's start with BYD, which began selling imported electric vehicles in Europe in 2022 and has opened 250 sales outlets in 19 European countries. The Chinese giant, which in record time (just 29 years since its founding) has climbed the global carmaker rankings, moved well ahead of its competitors by deciding to open a car factory in Europe as early as last year.

Production on the Old Continent will help the company avoid a price increase, as BYD has to pay a 17 per cent tax on the all-electric cars it exports to Europe from China, in addition to an existing 10 per cen duty.

The factory under construction in Seghedino could have a volume of 200,000 cars per year, both BEVs and PHEVs, according to analyst firm Bernstein. And BYD is already thinking about a second European production site.

Not just cars, but batteries too

BMW's Debrecen factory will build its new generation of long-range, fast-charging battery electric cars on the Neue Klasse platform. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has also promoted the opening of Chinese battery production plants in Hungary.

In the same city, CATL is building a huge £6.1 billion battery plant that will supply several manufacturers, including BMW and Mercedes. It will have a production capacity of 100 gigawatt-hours, enough to power more than 1 million cars.

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