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BYD has set its sights on Tesla’s European backyard.
The Chinese EV maker announced on Monday that it would nearly triple the number of sales and service locations in Germany, the home of Tesla’s European gigafactory, by the end of 2026.
The German expansion comes as part of a larger European push that will see the number of BYD stores on the continent double to more than 2,000 next year, executives said in a press conference at the IAA Mobility summit in Munich.
BYD, China’s biggest automaker, has bet heavily on overseas markets as it confronts fierce competition back home.
According to executive vice president Stella Li, the company now sells 13 models in Europe, and sales have surged so far this year.
BYD outsold rival Tesla in Europe for the second time this year in July, as Elon Musk’s carmaker grapples with slowing sales in its third-largest market.
Buoyed by recent success, BYD is now looking to put down roots. The company showed off its new SEAL 6 DM-i Touring, a hybrid sedan with a combined range of up to 1505km, in Munich, and is building a factory in Hungary with a production capacity of 200,000 cars a year.
Li told reporters that the Hungarian plant, which will allow BYD to avoid the 17% tariff imposed on Chinese cars by the European Union last year, would begin production by the end of 2025. She added that the $24,500 Dolphin Surf hatchback will be the first car to be made in the factory.
BYD is also planning to roll out its ultra-fast “megawatt” EV chargers in Europe, which the company says can add 400km of range in just five minutes.
Li said BYD aimed to install 200 to 300 of the ultrafast chargers, which are twice as powerful as Tesla’s top EV chargers, in Europe by the second quarter of 2026.
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