Shu said at an event in London on Thursday that this would be a topic for next year. BYD wants to be a leading electric car provider in Europe by the end of the decade. At the same time, he announced that he would bring the Seagull model onto the European market. The European version of the vehicle should be available for less than 20,000 euros.
On average, electric cars cost about a third more than comparable combustion vehicles, mainly because of the high cost of the battery – which makes it difficult to produce correspondingly cheap vehicles. The German Volkswagen Group recently announced an entry-level model for the second half of the decade.
BYD announced the construction of a factory in Hungary in December, making it the first major Chinese electric car manufacturer to have its own production facility in Europe. As part of his visit to Europe, Chinese President Xi Jinping also visited Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. The two countries signed a total of 18 agreements.
Under the right-wing Orban, Hungary has become an important trading partner for China. It is therefore pursuing a different strategy than other EU countries such as Germany, which want to reduce their dependence on China. Hungary will take over the EU Council Presidency in the second half of the year. Before the meeting, Xi said this was an opportunity to improve relations between Europe and China.
The Chinese president began his first trip to Europe in five years in France on Tuesday. There, President Emmanuel Macron and EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen called on him to adopt fair trade practices.
