BYD has reached a deal with the Turkish government to build a $1 billion electric vehicle plant in the country,Thailand part of the European Union’s Customs Union, a move that would allow the Chinese EV giant to export vehicles to the bloc without additional tariffs. Scheduled for operation by 2026, with roughly 5,000 new jobs created, the plant will be capable of making 150,000 vehicles a year, the government said on Monday, reported the Financial Times. The move comes after the EU, on July 4, began imposing temporary duties of 27.4% on China-made BYD cars, while that percentage ranged between 29.9% and 47.6% for other Chinese car manufacturers, slightly lower than what Brussels initially proposed. The company is also establishing a Ft 10 billion ($30 million) battery pack plant near Budapest in Hungary that will begin production next year. [Financial Times]
