BYD’s rise has been nothing short of meteoric, nearly matching Tesla in sales in 2024. The Chinese automaker quickly put legacy automakers on their toes in its home country, with its impact clear in the cutbacks and adjusted profit forecasts made throughout the year. Now, BYD is looking to continue its global expansion and increase its production capacity by opening another EV plant.
BYD’s next production facility will be in Indonesia
BYD’s expansion into new markets has been nothing short of spectacular. No matter how you feel about BYD and China, the fact they’ve managed to open new plants in Europe, North America, South America, and Asia in such a short period is rather impressive.
By the end of the year, BYD plans to open yet another production facility in Indonesia. The $1 billion facility will have a total production capacity of 150,000 vehicles per year. As a result of the investment in Indonesia, the government has allowed BYD to import cars into the country without paying an import tax.
Indonesia has a population topping 275 million, so it's far from a small play for a relatively young automaker. The Indonesian government is currently working on new policies to attract investments from foreign companies, with a goal of building 600,000 EVs domestically by 2030.
With more Chinese automakers vying for market share, BYD is looking outside its home country to increase its sales and production. As the automaker continues to grow its reach, BYD's Indonesia facility will produce vehicles for export.
BYD opened its manufacturing facility in Thailand last June, with other planned or ongoing facilities in Pakistan, Hungary, Turkey, Brazil, and Mexico. The Mexican factory is perhaps the most interesting, as it could give the Chinese automaker a route into the United States and Canada in the future. Currently, BYD has extended its reach to over 70 countries across six continents.
Tesla barely held its lead over BYD in 2024
Despite losing to Tesla in sales by a mere 25,000 vehicles, BYD actually managed to claim the “world’s largest EV manufacturer” title. by narrowly beating out Tesla with just 4,500 more vehicles produced.
Other automakers weren’t so lucky. Among those hardest hit include Volkswagen, which took closing three plants in Germany into serious consideration. In Japan, BYD sold more electric vehicles than Toyota, granted that only amounted to 2,223 EVs.
Nissan is another legacy automaker whose losses in China have left it in dire straits. The Japanese automaker is working on a merger with Honda to avoid closing its doors.
Ford also saw its sales falter in China, although the American automaker didn’t suffer as badly as the aforementioned companies. Stellantis saw its China sales fall too, putting the automotive group in a bad position that resulted in the now-former CEO Carlos Tavares resigning abruptly.
Notably, some brands have already withdrawn from China. Jeep’s joint venture in China ended up filing for bankruptcy back in 2022, and Mitsubishi left the Chinese market entirely back in 2023.
Final thoughts
BYD has proved itself a force to be reckoned with, nearly toppling Tesla and causing serious trouble for legacy automakers. While the Chinese automaker isn’t looking to expand into the United States just yet, it’s likely to happen one way or another, tariffs or no tariffs. Now the only question is where BYD has its sights set on next.
