BYD's global expansion plan outside of China will be able to reverse the fortunes of the Pakistani auto sector?

 

With the brand launch of BYD, a Chinese company selling electric vehicles worldwide, in Pakistan, while its global network seems to be getting stronger, new opportunities have arisen for Pakistan's auto sector.

BYD's local partners in Pakistan, Hub Co, says its new manufacturing plant in Karachi will be operational by 2026.

Although they plan to have 'one in three Pakistanis own a BYD car in the next five years', observers say the cars showcased so far seem to suggest that the company is the 'elite class' in Pakistan. It wants to make 'premium SUVs' and electric cars.

The company has also said that through BYD, Pakistan can become an 'export hub' for electric vehicles.This also reflects the company's recent expansion outside of China.

By the end of 2026, BYD has announced to establish a manufacturing plant in Turkey at a cost of one billion dollars, where up to 150,000 vehicles will be made annually.

BYD vehicles manufactured in Turkey will not be subject to the additional tariffs and imports imposed by the European Union on Chinese vehicles. This is because Turkey is part of the Customs Union of the European Union. While in May, the US also raised tariffs on Chinese vehicles.

This indicates that BYD has decided to expand its production outside China to avoid European and American strictures.

At the end of last year, BYD also announced to build a plant in the EU state of Hungary. It will be BYD's first car factory in Europe and Hungary hopes it will create thousands of jobs.

By now, BYD's EV plant set up in Thailand has become operational with the capacity to manufacture 1.5 million vehicles per year and is likely to create 10,000 jobs.

The company is also in talks to set up a plant in Mexico