Production at the BYD Plant in Szeged Could Start in 2025

BYD Auto Hungary, the company behind the electric car plant planned for Szeged (southern Hungary), has been registered with a share capital of around HUF 192 billion (EUR 501 million). The first two halls of the factory will be built in a 300-hectare industrial park on the outskirts of the city, next to main road 5. While the EU’s executive body investigates Chinese electric car manufacturers, the people of Szeged are happy to see the Asian giant arrive, reports Világgazdaság.

“The government has committed to two things in connection with BYD’s planned investment in Szeged: they will spend HUF 47-48 billion (EUR 122-125 million) on infrastructure development, and they have also promised state aid, the amount of which will be made public when it is approved by the European Commission,” said Gergely Gulyás, Minister of the Prime Minister’s Office, at the government briefing on Thursday. However, Szeged Television’s News was able to reveal that

production at the plant could start in the second half of next year, i.e. 2025.

Sándor Nagy, Deputy Mayor for Urban Development, also said that the city’s business tax revenue will increase even during the construction works,

and production will start gradually, with a full ramp-up expected in three to four years.

The report also reveals that BYD Auto Hungary, the company behind the electric car factory, has also been registered with a share capital of around HUF 192 billion – twice the city’s annual budget. The facility will be built in the 300-hectare industrial park on the outskirts of Szeged, next to the Laser Institute ELI-ALPS, from where the Asian group will serve the European market.

The Chinese giant, creating thousands of new jobs, will carry out its entire manufacturing process here, with the exception of battery production and chemical activities.

The locals interviewed by Szeged TV are happy about the investment, with most of them highlighting the job creation.

The report also points out that while the government can take away business tax, as it did with the battery factory in Iváncsa (central Hungary), South Korea’s SK Innovation and Hankook Tire, current regulations protect cities with county rights, including Szeged.

As previously reported, the European Commission is investigating Chinese electric car manufacturers for using unfair state subsidies to keep the price of their vehicles low. In the investigation, BYD, SAIC, and Geely are also involved.

In this context, Gulyás stressed that the so-called decoupling, i.e. the view that the Chinese economy should be cut off from Europe, is increasingly spreading in Western Europe. In the minister’s view, this is a bad decision, because the Hungarian government is in favor of free trade. He added that there was no reason to fear the EU executive.

Via Világgazdaság; Featured image via Facebook/BYD Europe