China-based BYD has grown its global presence by leaps and bounds in recent years, even though it isn’t present in several major automotive markets – including the U.S. That’s certainly true in Brazil, however, where BYD has found tremendous success, and is currently working on revamping a former Ford plant that was sold to the state of Bahia back in December 2023 after the automaker ceased its manufacturing operations in that country. BYD is working to transform that site into a major EV hub of its own, and even though it has faced its fair share of controversy there, it expects the plant to be completely up and running by next year, regardless.
According to Reuters, BYD officials expect the company’s new Brazilian plant to be fully operational by the conclusion of 2026, with vehicles built from semi-finished kits rolling off the lines there as soon as the end of this year. “A new schedule is being established so that by December 2026 the factory will be fully functional with the expectation of generating 10,000 jobs,” said Bahia state labor secretary Augusto Vasconcelos.
This does represent a bit of a delay for BYD, which previously anticipated that it would be building cars in Bahia at the beginning of 2025, after which it would steadily ramp up production to a max of 150,000 units annually. However, along with heavy rains that impeded construction at the site, BYD has also faced serious labor allegations that paused progress for some time as well.
The renovation of the former Ford site is being spearheaded by Chinese contractor Jinjiang Group, but Brazilian labor authorities previously claimed that they found 163 Chinese nationals working in “slavery-like conditions” there – allegations that Jinjiang has denied, though they’re being investigated by Brazilian authorities. Brazil ceased issuing temporary work visas for BYD amid these allegations, which also include concerns that those working at the site are victims of human trafficking.
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The Chinese master auto plan is working beautifully. 1. Welcome US manufacturing with open arms. 2. Steal all our technology. 3. Improve the technology with billions of government funding. 4. Put US manufacturers out of business.
In this case, the one who wanted to leave the Brazilian production market was Ford itself. BYD was going to build a factory in Brazil one way or another. It just took advantage of a plant that would be empty and that already had tax incentives to bring forward its objective.