PARIS: Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD is considering France for one of two new factories in Europe, which has charged tariffs on Chinese EV imports since 2024 to try to protect its automakers from low-cost competition.
"France is on the shortlist... We're studying very closely the possibility of building a factory in France," BYD vice president Stella Li told BFM television ahead of this week's Paris Auto Show.
"We're going to try to have a second and a third factory in Europe," she added, after the opening of a site in Hungary expected by the end of this year.
China and the EU reached an understanding last week to cut hybrid vehicle exports as Brussels accuses Beijing of fostering an unsustainable trade deficit in the bloc.
The EU said Monday that Chinese hybrid car imports would be limited to 350,000 a year, less than half the current import level.
Chinese vehicles are by far the most popular among electric vehicles – a sector in which EU automakers have lagged behind.
Li said she did not yet have details on the accord, but that BYD had a "long-term commitment to Europe. We are going to invest massively in Europe".
"I want people in France to say that BYD is a French company. I want them to love us," she said.