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Turkey is close to unveiling a deal with Chinese electric car maker BYD Co. to build a $1 billion factory in the west of the country, Bloomberg reports.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to announce the deal on Monday at a ceremony in Manisa province, where the plant will be built.
The new plant could give BYD easier access to the European Union, with which Turkey has a customs union. This week the bloc raised import duties on Chinese electric vehicles to 48%.
There’s also a domestic market to serve: Last year, electric cars accounted for 7.5% of car sales in Turkey, a country of nearly 90 million people.
Meanwhile, China’s top-selling auto brand BYD opened its first electric vehicle manufacturing plant in Thailand on Thursday. The company is also building a plant in Brazil and considering another in Mexico.
The company, which has little presence in Europe except for a plant in Hungary, is opening a new factory not only to highlight BYD’s desire to be closer to key markets but also as a hedge against tariff threats.
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