Batteries and chassis: BYD builds factories in Hungary and Brazil

Trite, true, but let us write it anyway: from China with fury. BYD, a manufacturer of cars, trucks, buses, battery-powered bikes forklifts, solar panels, and batteries (it is the world’s second-largest producer of cell phone batteries and the largest producer of nickel-cadmium batteries), is going for the global market.

Byd batteries in Hungary

The Shenzhen giant’s latest strategic move is the construction of a 10 billion forint (about 27 million euros) battery assembly plant in Fot, near Budapest. This was announced by Peter Szijjart, minister of foreign affairs and trade in the Hungarian government.

On the bus side, the vehicles produced by Byd in Komaron, northern Hungary, account for about 80 percent of the tpl bus fleet in London and 42 percent of the electric buses in all of Hungary.

From China to Hungary and from Hungary across the Atlantic Ocean to Brazil. Why? Because Byd plans to build three manufacturing plants at a former Ford industrial site in Brazil: one for the production of electric and hybrid cars, one for chassis for electric buses and trucks, and a third that will process lithium and iron phosphate for the international market.

Byd to conquer (also) Brazil

To redevelop the site in the Camacari industrial park in the Brazilian state of Bahia, BYD is ready to spend up to three billion Brazilian reais, the equivalent of about 570 million euros. According to Reuters, the announcement comes after the government signaled its willingness to grant BYD subsidies to build a new center for electric cars. Ford closed the site in 2021.

BYD’s move in Brazil is not a surprise. As early as November 2022 , the manufacturer said it was preparing electric vehicle production and battery raw material processing in the South American state. The passenger car plant will be designed for an annual capacity of 150,000 electric and hybrid cars, which can be doubled to 300,000 units if needed. And in total, BYD expects to create more than 5,000 direct and indirect jobs at the new Camacari site.

The Bahia plants are not Byd’s first production facilities in Brazil. The company already produces electric bus chassis in Campinas, in the Brazilian state of São Paulo, and operates a lithium iron phosphate battery module factory in Manaus, the capital of the Brazilian state of Amazonas.