Plans Finalized for Foundation of BYD Factory in Szeged, Construction to Begin Soon
The Chinese investor has currently requested permission for two halls.
The plans for the construction of the BYD factory in Szeged, which had not been disclosed in detail by the Hungarian government, local municipality or the Chinese company, were submitted to the building authority on Monday, reports the Szegeder.
The application submitted to the Csongrád-Csanád County Government Office presently covers only the foundation of two production halls. The larger of these halls, spanning 4 hectares, would serve for the shaping of vehicle bodies, while the smaller, roughly 2-hectare hall would be dedicated to a plant working with light metals and composite materials.
According to the plans awaiting approval, the work would not take place next to the nearby Liliom Residential Park, but rather to the north of the ELI-ALPS laser research center, beside the highway, on a site also known as "Pick-plot", where the first two halls of the Chinese electric car factory would be constructed.
On the 40-hectare site mentioned, three water reservoirs would also be built on the northern and southern edges, which would be able to store a total of 37 million liters of precipitation. This is what the plans, available in the ÉTDR (Electronic Administration of Spatial Information System) and marked in light blue for the two hall buildings, look like:
The new Hungarian company of the Chinese corporation preparing to manufacture electric cars in Szeged was also registered on Monday:
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó confirmed last Christmas the previous press reports, stating that the Chinese BYD would establish its first European plant in Szeged, Hungary. The minister did not disclose the value of the investment, only stating: "the project will be one of the biggest investments in the history of the Hungarian economy, creating several thousand new jobs in the process."
In 2023, BYD sold over 3 million cars worldwide, even outselling the American Tesla in the last quarter. (It is worth noting that the American billionaire Warren Buffett's investment company holds just under an 8 percent stake in BYD.)
European car manufacturers and their home countries view Hungary's introduction of Chinese competition to the common European market with disfavor. Additionally, an EU investigation has been launched due to the promised Hungarian state subsidies for the investment.
Nevertheless, the Economist has argued that the West should welcome such developments, as Chinese electric cars are cheaper and better than the Western ones, leaving more money in people’s pockets to spend elsewhere.
The application submitted to the Csongrád-Csanád County Government Office presently covers only the foundation of two production halls. The larger of these halls, spanning 4 hectares, would serve for the shaping of vehicle bodies, while the smaller, roughly 2-hectare hall would be dedicated to a plant working with light metals and composite materials.
According to the plans awaiting approval, the work would not take place next to the nearby Liliom Residential Park, but rather to the north of the ELI-ALPS laser research center, beside the highway, on a site also known as "Pick-plot", where the first two halls of the Chinese electric car factory would be constructed.
On the 40-hectare site mentioned, three water reservoirs would also be built on the northern and southern edges, which would be able to store a total of 37 million liters of precipitation. This is what the plans, available in the ÉTDR (Electronic Administration of Spatial Information System) and marked in light blue for the two hall buildings, look like:
The new Hungarian company of the Chinese corporation preparing to manufacture electric cars in Szeged was also registered on Monday:
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó confirmed last Christmas the previous press reports, stating that the Chinese BYD would establish its first European plant in Szeged, Hungary. The minister did not disclose the value of the investment, only stating: "the project will be one of the biggest investments in the history of the Hungarian economy, creating several thousand new jobs in the process."
In 2023, BYD sold over 3 million cars worldwide, even outselling the American Tesla in the last quarter. (It is worth noting that the American billionaire Warren Buffett's investment company holds just under an 8 percent stake in BYD.)
European car manufacturers and their home countries view Hungary's introduction of Chinese competition to the common European market with disfavor. Additionally, an EU investigation has been launched due to the promised Hungarian state subsidies for the investment.
Nevertheless, the Economist has argued that the West should welcome such developments, as Chinese electric cars are cheaper and better than the Western ones, leaving more money in people’s pockets to spend elsewhere.
