BYD Strikes $1 Billion Deal to Open Massive EV Factory in Turkey, Challenging Tesla's European Dominance
BYD signed a deal to open a $1 billion electric vehicle factory in Turkey, directly threatening Tesla's dominance in several European markets. The new factory in Turkey will have an annual capacity of 150,000 EVs and include a research and development division. BYD has sold EVs in Europe since 2021, but most sales are still in China. The new factories in Hungary and Turkey are aimed at expanding to Europe. Avoiding tariffs was a motivation for the Turkey factory given the country's customs trade deal with the EU. BYD also recently opened plants in Thailand and is finalizing a plant in Mexico, following Tesla's Gigafactory model of global expansion.