....BYD is not sitting still, it is opening EV plants in Mexico, Brazil, Hungary, Thailand and now Turkey...using those sites as proximity entry points into key regional markets and hopefully to get around tariffs.
....Western car makers are not making such concerted efforts to expand into emerging markets, they're not even growing their domestic EV markets earnestly.
....with such head start, BYD is widening the lead in EV global market share vis-a-vis Tesla and EU car makers.
....the significance is that BYD is doing this with its own internal battery supply chain from lithium mines to EV battery production- which means more of the lithium going into EVs worldwide is and will be sourced from BYD's controlled supply chain, with little of its demand overflowing into the wider open lithium market.
....lithium producers ought to be concerned that a lion share of the EV market is about to be gobbled up by the company that produces its own batteries from the lithium mines it directly owns and controls. Turkey Poised for $1 Billion EV Plant Deal With China’s BYD
BYD Co. Dolphin compact hatchback electric vehicles.
Photographer: Valeria Mongelli/Bloomberg
By Firat Kozok and Selcan Hacaoglu
July 5, 2024 at 9:27 PM GMT+10
Updated on
July 5, 2024 at 9:51 PM GMT+10
Turkey will soon unveil an agreement with Chinese electric-car maker BYD Co. for the construction of a $1 billion plant in the west of the country, Turkish officials said.
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to announce the deal on Monday during a ceremony in Manisa province, where the plant will be built, the officials said, asking not to be named because they aren’t authorized to speak publicly. BYD, China’s best-selling EV brand, and the Turkish presidency declined to comment.
The new plant may give BYD easier access to the European Union, with which Turkey has a customs union agreement. This week, the EU hiked tariffs on imports of Chinese EVs to as high as 48%.
There is also a domestic market to serve, with EVs accounting for 7.5% of car sales last year in Turkey, a country with a population of almost 90 million.
On Friday, Turkey eased tariffs recently imposed on imports of Chinese motor vehicles in an effort to encourage investment. That followed talks between Erdogan and China’s President Xi Jinping on Thursday during a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Astana, Kazakhstan.
BYD, China’s best-selling car brand, opened its first EV plant in Thailand on Thursday. It is also building a factory in Brazil and is eyeing another in Mexico. Beyond a plant in Hungary, it has little presence in Europe.
The new factory openings underscore not only BYD’s push but to be closer to big markets but to and hedge against the threat of tariffs.
