Report: Turkey will reach a $1 billion electric vehicle factory agreement with BYD

Local time on Friday, media cited Turkish officials as saying that Turkey is about to reach an agreement with BYD to build a new factory worth $1 billion in the western part of the country.

The report stated that Turkish President Erdogan is expected to announce this deal at a ceremony in Manisa Province on Monday, which will also be the location of the new factory.

Considering the customs union agreement between Turkey and the European Union, the new factory may reduce the difficulty for BYD to enter the EU market.

This news echoes a statement made by BYD in May.

At that time, Shu Youxing, General Manager of BYD's European car sales division, told the media that the company will consider building a second assembly plant in Europe by 2025. As early as December last year, BYD announced the establishment of an electric car factory in Hungary, becoming the first major Chinese automaker to set up a production base in Europe.

The competitive environment in the European market is deteriorating. Data released earlier showed that BYD's exports in June fell by 28% to 27,000 vehicles, far below market expectations. Compared to May, BYD exported 10,000 fewer vehicles in June.

Nevertheless, BYD has set itself an ambitious goal.

Shu Youxing previously stated that BYD aims to surpass Volkswagen, Tesla, and Stellantis by 2030, becoming the largest electric vehicle seller in the European market. He also mentioned that BYD is preparing for "massive investments in the EU," with a scale that could reach billions of euros, involving factories, distribution networks, and marketing, in order to ultimately achieve local production of cars in Europe.

Guided by this goal, on July 2, BYD announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding with Ayvens SA, a car leasing company held by France's Societe Generale Bank, to support the transformation of electric vehicles in Europe.

In addition, BYD has been working hard to expand its brand awareness in Europe.

For example, BYD recently sponsored the 2024 UEFA European Championship (Euro 2024) to increase its influence in the region, and built a new factory in Hungary to increase production in that region