Warren Buffett-Backed Chinese EV Maker Said To Be Mulling Factory In Europe

EV giant BYD Co Ltd BYDDY BYDDFis reportedly considering building a factory in Europe.

What Happened: The EV giant, backed by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, wants to build a plant in Europe and is considering locations including France, Spain and Germany, French media platform Les Echos reported.

Discussions are ongoing with BYD, the report quoted a French Minister as saying.

Why It Matters: There have been reports on BYD’s possible investment into Europe prior to this. In December, Bloomberg reported that BYD is looking to build a passenger car plant in Europe. “Maybe not only one, [but] it can be two,” BYD Executive Vice President Stella Li told Bloomberg.

In March, Financial Times reported that BYD’s first European plant is likely to be in Germany, France, Spain, Poland or Hungary.

As for performance, the company recorded a surge in April delivery numbers this year. Battery electric vehicle deliveries for April rose 83.9% from a year earlier and 1.6% month over month to 104,364 units. 

Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, however, continued to be more popular. Sales increased to 105,103 units from 48,072 year-on-year, with overall passenger vehicle sales up 94.1% to 209,467 units. 

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