BYD's plan is to build the facility for the Mexican market, not the export market, a company executive said.
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BYD (HKG: 1211, OTCMKTS: BYDDY) is looking for a site in Mexico to build a plant aimed at increasing the company's share of the local market, BYD Americas CEO Stella Li told Reuters on February 28.
The new energy vehicle (NEV) maker expects to choose a site by the end of the year for the plant, which will have a capacity of 150,000 vehicles per year, the report quoted Li as saying.
Li said BYD's ambitions in Mexico are for local sales only. "Our plan is to build the facility for the Mexican market, not for the export market," she said, according to Reuters.
BYD is looking for factory locations in the central and southern regions, rather than in northern Mexico near the United States -- where transportation costs to reach consumers would be expensive, she said.
BYD launched the Dolphin compact EV in Mexico in September 2023, its fourth model in the country after the Han, Tang and Yuan Plus.
Earlier this month, Nikkei reported that BYD is considering setting up an electric vehicle (EV) plant in Mexico as it seeks to establish an export hub to the US.
Nikkei cited Zou Zhou, BYD's manager for Mexico, as saying that Mexico is an important market with great potential.
Zou did not disclose where BYD might build its plant, but the northern state of Nuevo Leon and the Bajio region in central Mexico appear to be leading candidates, the Nikkei report said, adding that the Yucatan Peninsula and other parts of southern Mexico are also possible options.
BYD's rival Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) plans to build a gigafactory in Nuevo Leon to produce next-generation vehicles.
BYD, which produces battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), sold 526,409 passenger BEVs in the fourth quarter of 2023, surpassing Tesla's 484,507 for the first time.
BYD is on track to challenge Tesla for the BEV sales crown in 2024, market research firm TrendForce said in a report earlier this month.
In overseas markets, BYD has an NEV plant in Uzbekistan that went into production last month. The company is also building NEV plants in Brazil, Thailand, and Hungary.
BYD's initial plan for its 2024 sales target is 4 million units, report says
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