14 mai 25: BYD factory delayed in Brazil to be 'fully functional' by end-2026, says official

14 mai 2025


A  view  of the construction site of BYD's electric vehicle factory at the Industrial Complex in the city of Camacari, in the state of Bahia, Brazil, January 9, 2025. REUTERS/Joa Souza/ File Photo Purchase   Licensing  Rights,  opens new tab

Chinese electric car maker BYD's (002594.SZ), opens new tabnew   factory  in  Brazil  will  be  "fully  functional"  by December 2026, after its operations were delayed because of an investigation into labor abuses,     Bahia     state labor secretary Augusto Vasconcelos said in a video on Monday.

By the end of this year, the factory should start producing cars from semi-finished kits, he added.

"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 Vasconcelos in the video published to social media.

The  news  comes  as  Bahia  Governor  Jeronimo  Rodrigues  travels  to  China  with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, discussing plans for BYD and the auto industry, Vasconcelos said.

Operations   will   begin   with   the   assembly  of  vehicles  in  2025,  as  the  factory  ramps  up  with  "progressive nationalization of the best-selling models in Brazil", said BYD in a statement.

With  76,713  vehicles  sold  in  Brazil  throughout  the  year,  the  company  registered  a  growth  of  around 328%

compared to the 17,937 sold in 2023, according to a January press release.BYD's  investment  in  Brazil  -  its  biggest  market  outside  of  China  -  aims  to  turn  a  former Ford factory into a manufacturing complex with capacity to make 150,000 electric cars per year. The project was tarnishedin December with accusations of labor abuses at the worksite.The Chinese company's bet on Brazil includes the acquisition of mining rightsto   areas   rich  in  lithium,  a  mineral commonly used to build batteries for electric vehicles.The  plant  was  expected  to  have  started  making cars in Brazil at the beginning of this year, but delays involving the  labor  probe  and  heavy  rains  affected  the  timeline,  said  Julio  Bonfim,  head  of  the metalworkers union of Camaçari, Bahia.

To  assemble  the vehicles from the imported kits from China, BYD is set to hire around 1,000 workers in Brazil this year, Bonfim told Reuters, far short of the 10,000 the Chinese firm first promised.

Throughout the project, BYD estimates that it will create 20,000 jobs directly and indirectly, said the firm.

Despite  the  delay,  Bonfim  said  the  new  timeline  is  good  news,  and  that  next  year  he expects the hirings to increase as the firm prepares to build vehicles entirely in the country.(This story has been refiled to remove the sentence saying BYD did not reply to a request for comment)

Reporting by Fabio Teixeira Editing by Brad Haynes and Aurora Ellis

 


2025-05-14-www.reuters.com-12 mai 2025-50000000372721450 2025-05-14-www.reuters.com-12 mai 2025-50000000372721450