China's BYD plans to become "European manufacturer" in 2025

BYD has described the impact of EU tariffs on imported Chinese electric vehicles as “temporary damage”, anticipating that it will be the best-positioned Chinese brand of all in the coming years thanks to local production and modern technology. The brand, whose presence has grown exponentially in Europe over the past two years, is due to open a new factory in Hungary by the end of 2025, and Turkey further down the line, which will officially class the brand as a European manufacturer and free it from tariffs almost entirely. Speaking at the launch of the Seal U DM-i plug-in hybrid, the brand’s first PHEV to join its European and UK model line-up, BYD’s special European advisor Alfredo Altavilla told Autocar the brand was not happy with the tariffs, but said plans were in motion to circumvent them. “This is going to be a temporary damage for BYD because in less than a year from now, we will become officially a European manufacturer,” said Altavilla. “So if you ask me, are you happy with the tariffs? No, but the damage is going to be more limited for BYD than for other Chinese OEM in terms of volume ambitions. BYD has been the most cooperative Chinese brand with the European Commission. We get the ‘benefit’ of a lower tariff compared to other Chinese OEMs.” BYD’s cooperation with the European Commission appears to have paid off in the short term. Following the EU’s decision to raise the tariffs earlier this year, the firm currently pays 17.4% on imports on top of the basic 10% duty applied to all other Chinese brands. Geely, owner of Polestar, Volvo and Lotus, meanwhile, is required to stump up an extra 19.9%, while SAIC has to pay a whopping 37.6%. BYD will be the first Chinese brand to open its own bespoke production facility in Europe. It currently sells the Seal electric saloon, Dolphin electric supermini and Atto 3 electric SUV in the UK and Europe. The Seal U DM-i, its first plug-in hybrid model, will arrive in the coming months and marks the beginning of a wider expansion into a more diverse model range. The move will help cement BYD as a “local” company, a goal outlined to Autocar earlier this year by the company’s president, Stella Li. “Of course, the factories will have a big impact,” Altavilla added. “This is not just for the tariffs, but also because it would trigger building a technical infrastructure in Europe that will help much a faster input of European needs and European tastes into the next generation.” BYD also suggested it would be a stronger position against many more established European rivals thanks to its more modern technology. "No question, when it comes to brand awareness, we need to close a significant gap," Altavilla said. "But when it comes to technology, I think that MG and Skoda have a much older technology than ours." "The minute we get customers to compare our car with them... we are very confident that they will immediately realize the benefit of this technology. But the brand, the brand awareness, is, of course, an issue that we need overcome in the shortest possible period of time."