Chinese electric cars are about to flood into the EU via Turkey?

Türkiye will soon announce a deal with BYD Co. to build a $1 billion factory in the country’s west, Bloomberg reported on July 5, citing officials from the Eurasian nation.

The move would boost China's top electric carmaker's presence in Europe at a time when Brussels-Beijing trade tensions are escalating over electric vehicles, Bloomberg reported.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to announce the deal on July 8 at a ceremony in Manisa province, where the plant will be built, the officials said, asking not to be identified. Representatives of BYD and the Turkish presidential office declined Bloomberg’s requests for comment.

The new factory will improve BYD's access to the European Union (EU) as Türkiye has a customs union agreement with the bloc, the news agency said.

The EU recently moved forward with plans to impose temporary tariffs on electric vehicles imported from China, forcing BYD to pay an additional 17.4% on top of the current 10%.

The new investment also gives BYD a lucrative market, with electric vehicles accounting for 7.5% of car sales last year in Türkiye, a country of nearly 90 million people.

Türkiye said on July 5 that it was withdrawing plans announced nearly a month ago to impose an additional 40% tariff on all vehicles from China, citing efforts to encourage investment.

The decision was made after talks between President Erdogan and Chinese President Xi Jinping on July 5 within the framework of a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), led by Beijing and Moscow, held in the capital Astana of Kazakhstan.

BYD's Seagull electric hatchback. Photo: Getty Images

BYD has grown rapidly in China over the past few years, becoming the country’s best-selling car brand. The Shenzhen-based manufacturer has said it will bring its cheaper electric cars to Europe in the coming years, including the Seagull hatchback, which it plans to sell for under 20,000 euros ($21,700).

The automaker opened its first electric vehicle plant in Southeast Asia on July 5 in Thailand. BYD has also taken over a former Ford Motor Co. plant in Brazil and is scouting for a site in Mexico. Its first European-bound car plant is under construction in Hungary.

BYD’s sales rose to a record 982,747 vehicles in the second quarter, up more than 40% from the same period a year earlier. While the company’s sales in Europe have been sluggish so far, the Chinese electric vehicle giant is making a major marketing push in the region, replacing Volkswagen AG as the title sponsor of the UEFA Euro 2024 European soccer championship.

Minh Duc (According to Bloomberg)

Source: https://www.nguoiduatin.vn/xe-dien-trung-quoc-sap-tran-vao-eu-qua-nga-tho-nhi-ky-a671775.html