BYD considers second plant in Europe

Chinese car manufacturer BYD wants to conquer the car world - and not just the electric one. "Everyone dreams of becoming number one," says Stella Li, BYD board member responsible for Europe. BYD sold 16,000 cars in Europe last year, 4139 of them in Germany, all manufactured in China. This figure is likely to double in the medium term, as BYD plans to produce 150,000 cars from next year in the new plant in Hungary alone, which is currently under construction.

There seem to be no limits to growth. The first European plant has not yet opened, but Stella Li is already thinking about a second production facility, as she says in an interview with German journalists.

Founded in 1995 as a battery manufacturer, BYD has become a global player in the automotive industry. The group employs 700,000 people, more than Volkswagen. In addition to batteries, they also build tablet PCs, medical devices, cell phone housings, buses and cars in 30 plants. More than three million cars were produced last year, 70 percent of them purely electric, 30 percent as plug-in hybrids at least partially powered by electricity. This means that BYD overthrew Tesla as the world's largest electric car manufacturer last year.

In addition to the second plant in Europe, a design and development center is also planned here. This could also be built in Germany: "Germany is an extremely important market for us," says Li. This is where the competition is at its greatest; it is the home of Mercedes, BMW and Volkswagen, with whom BYD wants to compete. Li: "If you are successful here, you can make it anywhere." (cen/gr)