Brazil's President Luis Inácio Lula da Silva announced BYD's new EV factory outside Asia on X (formerly Twitter). The future BYD EV plant will be located in Camaçari, Bahia. It is expected to create 10,000 jobs in the region.
Pela manhã, recebi representantes da BYD Brasil, empresa de automóveis elétricos, que vai criar sua primeira fábrica fora da Ásia no Brasil. Além da entrega de um carro elétrico para uso da Presidência da República em comodato, a BYD apresentou um relatório detalhado do plano de… pic.twitter.com/xzWQK05vGj
— Lula (@LulaOficial) January 24, 2024
The Chinese carmaker isn't wasting any time in converting the plant. Work to expand and modernise the plant will begin next month. According to the president of BYD Brazil, Tyler Li, the goal for the new EV factory is to produce 150,000 cars a year.
Ford Motor has taken the decision to cease manufacturing operations in Brazil in January 2021. The move has resulted in the closure of three plants in the country - the Troller plant in Horizonte, the Ford Taubaté engine plant and the Camacari plant, which produced the Ford EcoSport and Ford Ka.
Earlier this month, BYD was in talks with Brazilian supplier Sigma Lithium. According to the Financial Times, BYD and Sigma Lithium are discussing a possible supply agreement, joint venture or even an acquisition. The Chinese company is prepared to invest up to $2.9 billion in the Brazilian lithium supplier.
BYD's potential deal with a local lithium supplier suggests that it is already working on localising its integrated supply chain in Brazil. The automaker's strategy is similar to that of Tesla, which has gigafactories outside the United States.
Source: LulaOficial
