Chinese auto and battery giant BYD, one of the fastest-growing car companies in recent history, has announced it will begin European production of its EVs in Hungary in the coming months, starting with the BYD Dolphin Surf, also known as the Seagull.
BYD also announced massive dealership expansion plans across Europe, as well as its Megawatt Charging rollout plans.
In a post on X, the company shared that at IAA Mobility 2025 show being held in Munich, Germany, it had made announcements on the various initiatives that are part of “marking major steps for sustainable mobility in Europe!”
The company will begin its European manufacturing in Szeged, Hungary, where the company has been working on a plant to build cars in Europe for customers on the continent.
According to reports from China, the works on the plant are progressing well with BYD’s smallest EV due to be the first model to roll off the production line by the end of 2025.
It should be noted that BYD already produces electric buses at another facility in Komárom, Hungary. The new plant in Szeged will be dedicated to passenger new energy vehicles.
The company is also planning to rapidly expand its dealer network in Europe with recent reports from the Chinese automotive insights company Gasgoo highlighting that BYD will open over 2,000 outlets by the end of 2026. It plans to execute this by partnering with local dealers and distributors.
In Germany alone, the company plans to target 120 locations by the end of 2025, as it aims to introduce more models to the market.
Another key initiative shared for the European expansion is the rollout of Megawatt Charging stations, which is expected to begin operations with 200-300 stations by the end of 2026.
In July, reports out of the UK suggested that it is planning to roll out this infrastructure into international markets. According to Autocar, the company was taking its 1,000 kW or 1 MW chargers into the UK market by the end of 2025.
As the company continues to expand with plans to sell over 4.5 million new energy vehicles globally in 2025, more announcements like these in Europe on future plans around the over 100 countries it currently operates in are expected in the coming years.
Riz is the founder of carloop based in Melbourne, specialising in Australian EV data, insight reports and trends. He is a mechanical engineer who spent the first 7 years of his career building transport infrastructure before starting carloop. He has a passion for cars, particularly EVs and wants to help reduce transport emissions in Australia. He currently drives a red Tesla Model 3.
