- BYD prefers to operate the factories independently rather than through joint ventures.
- BYD is looking for any available plants in Europe, hoping to utilize spare capacity.
BYD (HKEX: 1211) is negotiating with Stellantis NV and other European automakers, focusing on taking over underutilized car factories in the region.
The company is discussing potential deals to take over plants in countries such as Italy, BYD executive vice president Stella Li said in an interview on the sidelines of the Financial Times Future of the Car conference in London on Wednesday, according to a Bloomberg report.
"We are talking to not only Stellantis, we're talking to other companies too," Li said.
She added that the company is looking for any available plant in Europe because they do want to utilize this kind of spare capacity.
BYD would prefer to operate the plants on its own rather than through joint ventures, Li said.
Her comments follow a new plan unveiled by Stellantis earlier this month to work more closely with Leapmotor in Europe.
Stellantis and Leapmotor plan to add a new production line at the Zaragoza plant in Spain to produce a new Opel electric SUV and the Leapmotor B10 model.
The two parties also intend to transfer the ownership of Stellantis' Villaverde plant in Madrid to Leapmotor International's Spanish subsidiary, and allocate the production of new Leapmotor models there.
Under pressure from a domestic price war, Chinese automakers including BYD have been expanding abroad.
Meanwhile, consumer interest in EVs has renewed as fuel prices spiked in the wake of the Middle East conflict.
Geely Auto (HKEX: 0175) was recently reported to be acquiring Ford's assembly line in Spain for its EV expansion in Europe.
BYD has already built a passenger car factory in Hungary and has started trial production. It also previously announced plans to build a production base in Turkey.
Last month, BYD launched its premium sub-brand Denza in Paris and showcased its ultra-fast charging technology. The Denza Z9GT and Denza D9 models have entered the European market.
