EVwire brief: BYD will start assembling cars at its Szeged plant in Hungary in the fourth quarter of 2026, Executive Vice President Stella Li confirmed.
The start of production lands about a year later than originally planned. However, BYD has also paused work on its planned plant in Turkey while it concentrates on European production.
“Hungary is the number one priority right now. The second priority will be to focus on finding a second (production) facility in Europe.”
The Szeged plant is BYD's first factory in Europe. Li said last September that the plant in southern Hungary would start producing the Dolphin Surf compact electric car by the end of 2025. BYD, however, is still installing equipment at the facility.
The Szeged plant's first product will be the Dolphin Surf, the compact sibling of the BYD Dolphin
Context:
Chinese automakers used to building new factories at speed at home have found themselves moving more slowly in Europe. Chery has pushed back the start of production at its Barcelona plant several times, though it says the joint venture with Spanish carmaker Ebro will start making vehicles in 2026.
The delay has not slowed BYD's European sales. The company's sales in the region grew 270% last year to almost 188,000 vehicles, and registrations rose 144% year to date through May 2026 to over 100,000 units.
BYD’s sales in the region grew 270% in 2025 to almost 188,000 vehicles
Building EVs locally would help BYD avoid European Union tariffs on Chinese-made electric cars, and the company has been in talks with Stellantis and other European carmakers about taking over idle factories as it hunts for that second production facility.
Turkey, meanwhile, is on hold. BYD said in 2024 it would invest $1 billion in a Turkish plant that was supposed to start production this year, but Li confirmed construction has not started and the company has no timeline for beginning production there.
Source: Reuters
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