EqualOcean has been informed that on July 4 local time, BYD(Chinese: 比亚迪) and the government of the Brazilian state of Bahia jointly announced that the two sides will establish a large production base complex consisting of three factories in the city of Camassari, with a total investment of BRL 3 billion (about CNY 4.5 billion), further promoting BYD's globalization process.
The base is expected to become operational in the second half of 2024 and create more than 5,000 local jobs. Li Ke, Executive Vice President of BYD Corporation and President of BYD Americas, said, "Building a large-scale production base complex in Brazil is an important milestone for BYD's development in the Americas market, which will help accelerate the popularity of new energy vehicles in the region and also play a great role in promoting the fight against global climate change and improving people's quality of life. "
According to BYD, the large production base to be built in Brazil will consist of three factories: a main electric bus and truck chassis production plant, a new energy passenger car production plant, and a processing plant specializing in lithium iron phosphate materials. The new energy passenger car production line will include EV and PHEV models, with a planned annual capacity of 150,000 units. The lithium iron phosphate material processing plant will utilize local port resources to meet the growing demand for new energy products in the global market.
It is worth focusing on the fact that BYD and Bahia had already cooperated in 2018. BYD Weibo information shows that at that time, BYD had signed a contract with the state of Bahia to build the world's first cross-sea cloud rail in the region. Up to now, BYD has established a number of industrial chain factories in Brazil, including an electric bus factory, iron battery factory, solar energy factory, and lithium iron phosphate battery factory. With this announcement to build a large production base in Brazil, BYD will have its first factory in Brazil capable of producing electric passenger cars, and its local industrial chain layout will be more complete.
While promoting the layout of the local industrial chain in Brazil, BYD's passenger car products are also accelerating into the Brazilian market. BYD's official microblog shows that since 2022, BYD has been selling Tang, Han, Song, Yuan, and the latest Dolphin series models locally in Brazil. As more BYD vehicles enter the Brazilian market, local sales are also increasing rapidly, with data from Chinamobil's website showing that BYD sold a record 333 vehicles in Brazil in May this year, exceeding the brand's local sales for 2022.
As more and more Chinese auto companies go abroad, Ji Xuehong, director of the Automotive Industry Innovation Research Center and professor at Northern Polytechnic University, warned that although on the whole, independent brands going overseas is good for promoting the development of China's auto industry, but should also pay attention to protectionist policies and risks in overseas markets, while paying attention to factors such as the soundness of production support facilities and talent reserves in overseas markets, and make good advance planning.
In this regard, BYD said that it would set up a localized production team and conduct a series of training activities to improve its employees' professional and technical skills and contribute to local economic and social development.