EVWire brief: BYD started production at its Camaçari plant in Bahia, Brazil, its first EV assembly facility outside China. The site’s inaugural build was a Dolphin Mini city car (called Seagull in China). It is currently a semi-knock-down (SKD) factory capable of producing 150,000 BEVs and PHEVs per year.
Context:
BYD has nearly single-handedly pushed Brazil into the EV future in the past years: our EV sales tracking has shown that EV sales in Brazil grew a massive 219.1% year over year in 2024, after growing 136.8% in 2023. This led to 61,615 EVs sold in 2024. There is, of course, plenty of room still to go with a 2.48% EV market share last year.
That also means Brazil took the win for the highest EV sales growth in the world last year:
Now, in May 2025, 6,969 BEVs were registered (another all time record) in Brazil, growing 35% YoY. BYD’s role in that is clear. 5,596 of these BEVs, or 80.3%, were sold by BYD. Volvo came in second place with 514 sales (7.4%).
BYD bought the previously Ford owned ICE plant for R$300 million ($55M) in March 2024 and plans a total of R$5.5 billion (about $1B) in investments, with R$1.4 billion already invested.
The industrial complex. Source: BYD
The timing of this factory isn’t a surprise either: Brazil is raising import tariffs on EVs to 25% and on PHEVs to 28%. BYD is currently seeking a lower 10% rate for SKD kits and plans to produce domestically later (no exact date yet).
Reconstruction of the plant from ICE to EV production took 16 months and now spans 26 warehouses plus a test track. Local suppliers such as Continental will provide components.
The road to build this plant hasn’t been easy and has some shadows cast over it: in May, prosecutors accused contractors of labour abuses during the plant rebuild, rescuing 220 Chinese workers. The investigation on that is ongoing.
Fun fact — to date, BYD's NEVs have reached over 110 countries and regions.
Source: CarNewsChina, CNEVpost, BYD
