By Greg Gao

(JW Insights) Jul 6 -- Chinese EV manufacturer BYD and the government of the state of Bahia in Brazil jointly announced their plans to establish a large-scale electric vehicle(EV) production base in Camaçari on July 5. The total investment for this project will reach RMB 4.5 billion ($621 million), further deepening BYD’s global expansion.

The BYD’s production complex will consist of three plants. One plant will focus on producing electric buses and truck chassis, another will specialize in producing new energy passenger vehicles, and the third factory will be dedicated to processing lithium iron phosphate battery materials.

The passenger vehicle production line will include pure electric and plug-in hybrid models, with a planned annual capacity of 150,000 vehicles. The lithium iron phosphate factory will leverage local port resources to meet the increasing global demand for EV battery products.

Operation at the plants is expected to start in mid-2024, and the complex would generate over 5,000 jobs, the company added.

BYD has been accelerating its global expansion this year. In addition to the factory in Brazil, BYD has also announced plans to build its first overseas passenger vehicle production base in Thailand. The company aims to further expand its scale in Vietnam, utilizing the best technologies for EV manufacturing and assembly. There were also rumors on BYD’s intention to establish a production base in Europe.