BYD factory delayed in Brazil to be 'fully functional' by end-2026, says official
RIO DE JANEIRO, May 12 (Reuters) - Chinese electric car maker BYD's (002594.SZ), opens new tab new 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.
The firm did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
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 tarnished in December with accusations of labor abuses at the worksite.
The Chinese company's bet on Brazil includes the acquisition of mining rights to 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.
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.
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The Independent
7 hours ago
- The Independent
BYD plans new EV blitz by the end of next year
In just over two years, BYD has launched six new models. It's latest – the BYD Dolphin Surf – is being launched in the UK right now. Currently the range comprises six of what BYD calls 'new energy vehicles' – a combination of fully electric and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) models, technology BYD refers to as a DM-i. However, that's set to more than double by the end of next year with almost every BYD model to be offered as a full EV or PHEV, plus more new models to come. In BYD retailers now are the Dolphin Surf, Dolphin, Atto 3, Seal and Sealion 7 all-electric models, plus the Seal U DM-i plug-in hybrid. The Atto 2 compact EV SUV will be joining the line-up in the coming months to make it seven cars in under three years. There are many more models to come with BYD executive vice-president Stella Li recently telling The Independent: 'We will introduce five DM-i models into Europe in the next one and a half years.' The first to arrive are the Seal 6 DM-i and the Sealion 6 DM-i. The Seal 6 will be available as a saloon and an estate car, while the Sealion 6 is a mid-size SUV. BYD has now confirmed that every new model in future – plus existing models – will be available as both DM-i plug-in hybrids and fully electric cars, starting with the Seal 6 and Sealion 6. The only car not to follow that rule will be the new budget EV supermini, the Dolphin Surf. Talking at the launch of the Dolphin Surf in London, BYD special adviser, Alfredo Altavilla, confirmed that the Seal and Sealion 6 would be coming to the UK 'soon, very soon'. Altavilla went on to confirm the plans for twin EV and PHEV models. 'Fundamentally, by the end of 2026, 90 per cent of our line-up will have both the DM-i and EV version,' he said. 'It will be every car line with the exception of the Dolphin Surf, which will remain as an EV.' Asked to confirm that the BYD DM-i and EV models would be twins rather than separate models, meaning the upcoming Atto 2 compact SUV that was planned as an EV will also be a PHEV, Altavilla said: '90 per cent means that they will be both'. It's not only BYD models that are coming to the UK in 2026. Next year will see the launch of BYD's premium brand Denza, with three new models set to arrive. 'Denza will start off in three main segments,' said Altavilla. 'A sedan the Z9GT, an MPV the D9 and then an SUV – this will be the startup. Then we will complete the line-up, especially in the SUV subsegments.' Altavilla told us that Denza will also have its own retailers rather than rely on BYD's growing network of dealers. 'Dealing with premium customer is a different job than dealing with the mass market customer,' he said. 'We believe that only investors who are already used to dealing with customer in that segment deserve to be appointed Denza dealers. Some of them will be in common with BYD, but most of them will be specific to Denza.'
Top Gear
3 days ago
- Top Gear
BYD Dolphin Surf Review 2025
One of the cheapest electric superminis. And for buyers coming out of a three year old Skoda Fabia, the equipment list will feel like science fiction. It's kitted out with a full suite of connectivity and driver assist. You can unlock and drive it from your smartwatch, and send a link to a friend so they can do it too. External power means you could run a small cook stove in the wild. All of which is right there with the £18,650 base model. Advertisement - Page continues below It comes from BYD, a brand with mushrooming sales and a colossal footprint. Shortly after launch, manufacture of the Dolphin Surf moves to a vast brand-new plant in Hungary. You could accuse BYD of bait and switch with that entry price. It's for a relatively small battery car with just 137 miles of range. Fine as a commuter car, but you'd soon tire of motorway work: call it half an hour of charging for every hour at 70mph. So you're nudged into the middle Boost trim, which ups the electric range to 200 miles. But it costs another £3,300. That said, we suspect BYD knows this is the one you want, so at launch there's a deposit contribution bringing the Boost as close as £10 a month more on PCP than the small-battery Active. Rivals begin with the Dacia Spring and Leapmotor T03 at the bottom end. Although they're cheaper, they're smaller. Heartland rivals are the Stellantis pair, the Fiat Grande Panda and Citroën ë-C3. At the top of the Dolphin Surf range you draw level with the base Renault 5. Which is a problem for BYD. Advertisement - Page continues below How big is it? It's not quite a supermini because it's narrow, so fits only two abreast in the back. Same as the Hyundai Inster. And it's tall, so on its little wheels it looks a bit gawky. It's 4.0 metres in length, a squeak longer than a Toyota Yaris. EV-native underfloor design and the tall roof help with interior space. There's plenty of legroom in the back, and a deep boot. But a 'city car' is the bus. 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On the bright side, this meek performance is a key to its real-world efficiency. Numbers then? The Active spec has a 30kWh battery giving 137 miles WLTP. Its 89bhp motor manages 0-62mh in 11.1 seconds. Boost ups the battery size to 43.2kWh, and range is now 200 miles. Same motor as before. But performance dips a little because of extra weight and perhaps its larger tyres (on 16s not 15s) gearing it up. It's 12.1s 0-62mph. Sorry, but it feels slower than that. For extra poke, get the Comfort, which has the Boost's battery but a usefully spicier 156bhp, cutting the 0-62mph to 9.1s. Range drops marginally to 193 miles WLTP. On a motorway the real drop will be more, unless you can resist using the extra power to hit the overtaking lane. That bigger battery charges at 85kW peak, for a half-hour 10-80 per cent top-up. Both batteries are BYD's robust and cost-efficient LFP chemistry, so you won't harm them by frequently discharging going close to flat and back to 100 per cent. Use the capacity you pay for. Our choice from the range BYD 65kW Boost 43kWh 5dr Auto £21,885 See prices and specs What's the verdict? ' Truth be told we found much of the Dolphin Surf's fancy tech – the display system and driver assists – annoying rather than helpful ' Can a million drivers be wrong? In China and South America, total sales of this car – known as the Seagull and Dolphin Mini – have already sold that number. But BYD took a while to intro it here, to revise the structure and safety systems in pursuit of all five EuroNCAP stars (the actual test isn't published as we write), and improve the sense of quality. Both those things are admirable. The cabin space and seat comfort are excellent. People are going to look at the rest of the equipment and wonder why the Citroen and Fiat rivals are so sparse. But truth be told we found much of the Dolphin Surf's fancy tech – the display system and driver assists – annoying rather than helpful. We'd likely soon default to phone mirroring and, y'know, driving. And when driving we'd notice the lack of polish and engagement. Small cars should be cheeky fun. This is off-target.
Reuters
3 days ago
- Reuters
Brazil central bank to hold interest rates at 14.75% on June 18, economists say: Reuters poll
BUENOS AIRES, June 13 (Reuters) - Brazil's central bank is expected to keep its benchmark rate unchanged at 14.75%, its highest in nearly two decades, on June 18 and also remain data-dependent for upcoming decisions, a Reuters poll of economists showed. The consensus view shifted from a poll in May, when a majority of analysts who answered extra questions on the next move by Banco Central do Brasil (BCB) said they expected a 25 basis point hike in June. It would be the first pause after the BCB raised its Selic rate six consecutive times by a total of 425 basis points to its highest since July 2006. At the end of next week's two-day meeting, policymakers will also probably reiterate their concerns about still-elevated inflation, while noting some moderation in consumer prices amid heightened uncertainty. The decision should maintain the considerable spread of more than 10 percentage points over U.S. rates, a gap that has helped strengthen Brazil's currency but is weighing on economic growth. The bank's monetary policy committee, known as Copom, will hold the Selic rate steady, according to a majority of 27 economists of 39 polled June 9-12. Twelve predicted a 25 basis-point increase to 15.00%. "Copom is expected to keep the Selic stable at 14.75% at this meeting, but with a very cautious tone, possibly leaving the doors open to raising rates again in the future," said Robson Pereira, chief economist at Brasilprev. "The statement should acknowledge that since the last meeting, there has been a reduction in the risks of an imminent global recession but also that the level of uncertainty remains very high." Brazil's inflation rate slowed more than forecast last month. However, the 12-month gauge came in at 5.32%, surpassing again the central bank's target of 3% plus/minus a margin of 1.5 percentage points. Last week, Gabriel Galipolo, BCB's governor, said the bank was keeping its options open into June's policy meeting, in line with its decision in May to drop any forward guidance on policy. Asked in the latest survey what the next move would be, all 29 respondents to the extra question called for a rate cut. Ten expected an easing in January 2026, six in December 2025 and the rest in other months. In response to another extra question on the size of the possible reduction in the cost of borrowing, a slight majority of 16 predicted a 25 basis-points cut and the other 13 a half-percentage point move. The Selic will stay at 14.75% until year-end, and then fall to 14.00% in the first quarter of 2026, closing next year at 12.00%, medians in the poll showed. (Other stories from the Reuters global economic poll)
