BYD confirms Hungary as location of first Euro car plant

Chinese EV and battery producer BYD has confirmed it is to build a state-of-the-art electric vehicle passenger car factory in Szeged, Hungary.

The third largest city in Hungary, Szeged is located close to Hungary's southern borders with both Romania and Serbia, and is around 100 miles south east of the capital city Budapest.

It is all part of BYD's expansion into Europe, following a successful UK launch in 2023 which saw not one, not two but three new EVs from the brand.

The new facility is the first of its kind to be built by a Chinese automotive company in Europe and it is expected to create thousands of new jobs in the region.

The news of the investment in Europe comes off the back of a stunningly successful 2023 for BYD as it overtook Tesla to become the new global 'new energy vehicle' sales champion with over 3,000,000 new vehicle sales in the year. The year also marked BYD being listed among the global top 10 of car sales for the first time.

In the Chinese market, BYD retained its position as the best-selling car brand and manufacturer.