Hungarian arm of China's BYD to build plant in Szeged registered at court
The just under €0.5bn in share capital was "most likely" paid by the Hungarian state, according to the portal, as this follows from the estimated EUR 5 billion investment and the Hungarian state's support policy in recent years, which typically provided 10% of the investment as subsidies. According to RTL, the government is providing more than HUF 60 billion for the development of the industrial park that will house the factory, as well as direct subsidies for the investment.
The Hungarian limited liability company behind the Szeged car plant has been registered with the court of registration in Tatabánya, and the newspaper also points out that battery production is among the registered activities, although the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó, who announced the Chinese investment, stressed at the time that BYD would produce electric cars, not batteries, in Szeged. The paper also notes, however, that Audi of Győr and Mercedes of Kecskemét also produce batteries, yet they do not produce them in these two Hungarian cities.
On Sunday, Telex reported that the construction authority had already received plans for the Szeged project. Meanwhile, Financial Times reports that BYD's Chinese parent company is planning to sign a supply contract with a Brazilian lithium producer, or set up a joint venture, or even buy the company itself, to support the new BYD car plant in Brazil, as the material is also key to the production of batteries for electric cars.
BYD sold more than 3 million cars worldwide last year, more than its big rival Tesla in the US. In October last year, two dealerships of Duna Autó and Wallis Motor started selling the Chinese electric cars in Hungary, and from February, the BYD showroom of Schiller Autó will open in Budapest.
No substantial information has been available on the Szeged project since the announcement before Christmas, but recently plans for the project have been submitted to the building authority. According to an article in Telex on Sunday, the drawings awaiting permits show that the first two halls of the Chinese electric car factory would be built north of the ELI-ALPS laser research centre, next to the motorway, and that the designers of the factory would like to apply for permits to lay the foundations for at least these two halls. The documents show that the larger hall would be used to mould car bodies on 4 hectares, while the smaller one would be a light metal composites plant, occupying almost half that area.
In connection with the new BYD car plant in Brazil, the Chinese company is in talks with Sigma Lithium, a listed company valued at $2.9 billion, but the exact direction has not yet been decided, BYD's South American head told Financial Times, which also mentions the Hungarian plant and that the Chinese company is also in talks with Mexico about a possible plant project.
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