BYD has major plans in Hungary, the base for European expansion

BYD has come a long way in recent years. In 2008, when Warren Buffett acquired a 10% stake in the company, the Chinese manufacturer was only a tiny player in the global automotive industry, with annual sales of 170,000 vehicles, roughly equivalent to the production of a standard car factory.

Last year, BYD sold 4.3 million vehicles, 41% more than in 2023, surpassing Volkswagen in China to become the country's largest automaker.

With these sales figures, BYD held a 24% global market share in the NEV (New Energy Vehicle) market, while the second-largest manufacturer had only 10% with 1.8 million vehicles.

In terms of total sales (which includes internal combustion engine vehicles at other manufacturers), BYD was the world's 6th largest automaker in 2024. Over 90% of the company's cars were sold in China, with nearly 10% (417,000 vehicles) sold outside China.

In 2025, they plan to sell 5-6 million vehicles, comparable to General Motors and Stellantis's global sales, and aim to double foreign sales to more than 800,000 vehicles.

To give you an idea of the growth, in March this year, in just one month, BYD sold 377,000 cars, 25% more than a year ago, and 73,000 of those cars were sold abroad, meaning that one in five cars found a buyer outside China.

In the first quarter, BYD sold 1 million cars, 60% more than a year ago.

BYD has no passenger cars in the United States, only commercial vehicles such as electric buses.

We know the country very well, but we never planned to bring BYD cars to the US,

Li said.

To fund its international expansion, BYD recently raised $5.59 billion by issuing new shares. Raising capital in Hong Kong will help the company accelerate its global plans, as Chinese financial regulations make it difficult to move funds internationally. Although BYD has good cash flow in China, it is difficult and expensive to use it outside China.

The company is currently building factories in Brazil, Thailand, Indonesia, Türkiye, and Hungary.

In Europe, BYD has ambitious plans with the Szeged plant under construction in Hungary, another in Türkiye, and plans for a third facility, possibly in Germany.

BYD has no plans to lower its prices because it wants quality competition, not price competition.

It used to be that if you don't have enough money, buy a BYD, but now it's that if you don't have enough money, you can't afford a BYD.

Part of the aim with European factories is to avoid paying tariffs on cars made here, as is the case with electric cars exported from China to Europe. Another important issue is the supply of parts, with BYD planning to source key parts from China while manufacturing locally to maintain a cost advantage. But the company is trying to rely on European suppliers, and recently signed an agreement with Italian company Intergea to distribute car parts.

We have already held several supplier conferences in Europe, for example in Austria and Italy, but there will also be more in Germany and France, where we are encouraging suppliers to supply parts to BYD,

said Li.

According to Stella Li, the Szeged factory's annual capacity will be 150,000 units in the first phase, with potential for an additional 150,000 units in the second phase.

Construction is progressing very well and we are very optimistic that we will be able to start production at the plant by the end of the year.

BYD will also establish its R&D activities in Hungary, with the European headquarters to be located in Budapest, not Szeged. By the end of the year, BYD will have 15 car showrooms in Hungary and 1,000 across Europe.

According to newspaper reports, the European Union is investigating whether China gave unfair subsidies to BYD's Hungarian car plant. In response, Stella Li said it was

fake news. There has been no investigation.

Looking ahead, Li suggested that while there are currently more than 100 Chinese companies manufacturing cars, only a few will survive in the long term, drawing parallels with the historical consolidation of Japanese and Korean automakers in global markets.