Chinese Tesla rival BYD to open EV manufacturing plant in Hungary

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One of the world’s largest electrical vehicle (EV) manufacturers is to open its first European production factory in Hungary.

Hungary’s foreign minister Péter Szijjártó announced that BYD will open the factory, in the latest step for the central European country’s efforts to be a global hub for EV manufacturing.

The plant will be built near the southern city of Szeged, and is expected to provide thousands of jobs to the region, Szijjártó said in a statement posted to his Facebook page.

The project “will be one of the largest investments in Hungarian economic history,” he said, adding that the government would provide financial incentives to BYD for building the plant, details of which he said would be released at a later date.

The plant’s construction will “further strengthen the position of the Hungarian economy, further strengthen the foundations of long-term economic growth, and further strengthen Hungary’s position in the global electric automotive transition,” Szijjártó said.

In recent years Hungary has sought to become a global hub of lithium-ion battery manufacturing in an era where governments are increasingly seeking to limit greenhouse gas emissions by switching to electric cars.

South Korea’s Samsung, China’s CATL and other companies have already built factories in Hungary, prompting reactions from some locals and environmental groups who worry about the consequences for the environment.

CATL’s battery plant in Debrecen, which is expected to create around 9,000 jobs, is the largest such EV battery factory in Hungary so far.

BYD, which is Tesla’s largest global rival in EV production, already has an electric bus manufacturing plant in the northwestern Hungarian city of Komarom. But the planned Szeged factory would be the first major consumer EV production facility in Europe for a Chinese carmaker.

The mayor of Szeged, Laszlo Botka, said the city’s “geographical location and logistical development” had helped make it a winning candidate for hosting the factory.

Szeged is situated near Hungary’s border with Serbia, and a rail corridor that Hungary’s government has developed jointly with Beijing as part of China’s “Belt and Road” global trade initiative.

On Friday, Szijjártó said BYD’s decision to open its plant in Hungary came after 224 rounds of negotiations between the company and Hungary’s government.