Chinese electric car maker BYD to build $1 billion factory in Türkiye

Hong Kong
CNN
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Chinese company BYD competes with Tesla for the title of the world’s largest car manufacturer The Turkish government announced that Japanese electric car maker Hyundai Motor has agreed to build a $1 billion car factory in Turkey.

BYDCEO Wang Chuanfu and Turkish Industry and Technology Minister Mehmet Fatih Kaci signed the agreement in Istanbul, according to a statement from the Turkish ministry on Monday. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attended the signing ceremony. Party, as it came.

“We aim to meet the growing demand for new energy vehicles in the region and reach consumers in Europe,” BYD representatives were quoted as saying in the statement.

The announcement came just days after Temporary additional duties The decision to impose tariffs on imports of Chinese-made electric cars into the European Union has come into effect. The tariffs, which range from 17.4% to 37.6%, are aimed at stopping the flow of cheap Chinese cars made with what the EU considers unfair government subsidies.

Turkey has a customs union with the European Union, meaning vehicles can be exported from the country to the trading bloc without customs duties.

Under the agreement with Turkey, BYD will invest about $1 billion in the factory, which will be able to produce 150,000 electric and hybrid vehicles annually, and establish a research and development center for sustainable mobility technologies at the factory.

The plant is expected to start production by the end of 2026, and will provide up to 5,000 jobs in the country.

CNN has reached out to BYD for comment, but has not received a response.

The EU decision earlier this year imposed an additional 17.4% tariff on vehicles shipped by BYD from China to the bloc, which also imposes a standard 10% tariff on all car imports.

Talks between the EU and China are expected to continue, but if no agreement is reached, the additional tariffs will become final in November.

BYD already Advertise In December, it announced it would build an electric vehicle factory in EU member Hungary, becoming the first major Chinese automaker. To build passenger cars in Europe.