HMM: China’s BYD Fires Warning Shot To Western EV Rivals — Including Tesla — With This Move.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attended Monday’s signing ceremony, reportedly between BYD’s CEO Wang Chuanfu and Turkey’s industry and technology minister Fatih Kacir. The $1 billion BYD factory investment reportedly has an annual capacity of 150,000 electric cars. It also includes a research and development center.

The new automobile factory continues BYD’s international expansion and boosts its presence in Europe, where it began selling EVs in 2021. It comes amid rising trade tensions between China and the West, which accuses the country of unfairly subsidizing its electric-car industry.

The new BYD plant, located in Manisa province, would allow it to avoid 40% tariffs in Turkey. It would also mark BYD’s second European factory. Its first plant for the continent, in Hungary, is under construction.

Further, Turkey has a customs trade deal with the European Union.

BYD is a real threat to European carmakers and, eventually, American manufacturers, too.

But Chinese carmakers weren’t a threat before Western governments began mandating and incentivizing the EV market into existence.