Chinese automaker BYD to make EVs in Vietnam

HANOI (Reuters) – Chinese automaker BYD Co (OTC:). plans to expand into electric vehicles manufacturing and assembly in Vietnam, according to a Vietnamese government statement citing the company’s chair.

Reuters in January exclusively reported that the Xian-based EV maker had plans to open a plant in Vietnam to produce car parts, with the aim to export components to an assembly plant planned in neighbouring Thailand.

In a government statement released after the meeting between BYD’s founder and chair Wang Chuanfu and Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha on May 5, Wang said he expected Vietnam to create favourable conditions for BYD to complete investment procedures.

The statement did not mention how much new investment BYD would top up for the expansion.

BYD, which currently runs a factory to assemble electronic devices and parts in the northern Vietnamese province of Phu Tho, also proposed forming a local supply chain, according to the government statement released on Friday.

The presence of BYD would pose a direct challenge to VinFast, a Vietnamese EV maker that began selling cars in 2019 and plans to expand in the United States and Europe.

Last September, BYD, backed by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:), announced that it would build an EV assembly plant in Thailand with annual capacity of 150,000 cars from 2024.