As Bloomberg reported, Türkiye will soon reveal the agreement with BYD to build $1 billion electric car factoryTurkish officials said. The new production plant is to be built in the western part of the country in the province of Manisa.
New plants, a way to deal with EU tariffs
This week the EU took further action on the matter planned imposition of temporary tariffs on electric vehicles imported from China. In the case of BYD, the customs duty rate is to increase by an additional fee of 17.4 percent on top of the existing rate of 10 percent. Türkiye and the European Union have signed a customs union agreement. Therefore, a new factory in Turkey would improve the access of the world’s largest car manufacturer to the EU market.
Türkiye waives tariffs on Chinese cars
On Friday Turkey announced it was withdrawing plans announced almost a month ago to impose an additional 40 percent tariff on all vehicles from China. The decision to withdraw taxation of Chinese cars came after Thursday’s talks between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Chinese President Xi Jinping during a meeting Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Astana, Kazakhstan.
For BYD, the Turkish market itself is also a tasty morsel. Last year, electric vehicles accounted for 7.5 percent of car sales in Turkey, a country of almost 90 million people.
BYD conquers new markets
BYD has had a good run in China over the past few yearsbecoming the best-selling car brand in the country. The Shenzhen-based manufacturer’s announcement shows that in will bring cheaper electric vehicles to Europe in the coming yearsincluding the Seagull hatchback, which is expected to be priced at less than 20,000 euros.
The carmaker opened its first electric vehicle plant in Southeast Asia in Thailand on Thursday. BYD said the plant has an annual production capacity of 150,000 vehicles. The plant will also produce key components such as batteries and transmissions. BYD will also acquire a 20 percent stake in its official distributor in Thailand, Rever Automotive.
The Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer is also active in other regions of the world. BYD took over a former Ford factory in Braziland Mexico is looking for a location for a new factory. The first BYD car factory in Europe is being built in Hungary.
