Chinese electric car maker BYD is considering building a second assembly plant in Europe. Europe boss Michael Shu said at an event in London that this would be a topic for next year. BYD wants to be a leading electric car provider in Europe by the end of the decade. At the same time, he announced that he would bring the Seagull model onto the European market. The European version of the vehicle should be available for less than 20,000 euros.
On average, electric cars cost about a third more than comparable combustion vehicles, mainly because of the high cost of the battery – which makes it difficult to produce correspondingly cheap vehicles. Volkswagen recently announced an entry-level model for the second half of the decade.
BYD announced the construction of a factory in Hungary in December, making it the first major Chinese electric car manufacturer to have its own production facility in Europe. As part of his visit to Europe, Chinese President Xi Jinping also visited Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. The two countries signed 18 agreements. Hungary has become an important trading partner for China under Orbán’s right-wing government. It is therefore pursuing a different strategy than other EU countries such as Germany, which want to reduce their dependence on China.