Chinese carmaker BYD aims to make Türkiye center of technology, innovation

By Gokhan Ergocun and Abdulselam Durdak

ISTANBUL (AA) - Chinese automotive giant BYD, which recently announced a huge factory investment in Türkiye, also plans to make the country a center of its future technologies and innovation.

Stella Li, the executive vice president of BYD Ltd. and CEO of BYD Americas, said Türkiye is the third-largest auto manufacturing country in Europe, and that it boasts numerous highly educated R&D staff.

For this reason, "BYD really likes Türkiye" and it also sees the country, with its population of more than 85 million, as an important automobile market, she told Anadolu.

BYD on Monday signed an agreement with the Turkish Industry and Technology Ministry to make a factory and R&D investment in Türkiye worth $1 billion.

The firm's production and R&D plants are expected to create 5,000 jobs in the country and produce around 150,000 units of vehicles annually.

Li said Istanbul is the only city in the world that connects Asia to Europe, and as Türkiye is present on both continents, it is a top competitive manufacturing space.

She added that the country also offers a shorter distance to export to neighboring provinces, and so Türkiye became the top candidate for building a manufacturing center.

BYD’s expectation is to start construction perhaps this summer and “building a facility in less than 12 months," she said.

- Plant to produce up to 12 models

BYD is not only an automotive firm but also an engineering company with around 110,000 R&D personnel around the world, she said, adding that it produces 32 patents each day.

The firm came to Türkiye not only to build another facility, but it has a passion to bring the most advanced plant for electric vehicles (EV) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV), she stressed.

The firm plans to manufacture several models, from eight to 12, in its Turkish factory, she said, noting that the firm wants to get the chance to produce more models in Türkiye and localize itself.

On the Turkish Aegean province of Manisa, where the factory will be built, she said Manisa’s government, local people and institutions are very impressive, adding: "This will be our home."

"So we want to build a brand here, but the difference is BYD’s investment here is not (just) adding another 5,000 jobs, we want to bring innovation here, we want to boost the technology here," she said.

She said BYD is also coming to Türkiye to train people, and also most importantly, Türkiye and China can work more closely together to cooperate in advanced technologies.

She emphasized that the Turkish Industry and Technology Ministry and relevant institutions worked in perfect harmony with BYD during the investment process.

"When we were working with the administration and government agencies of Türkiye, we were totally impressed by the professionalism," she added.