BYD (Build Your Dreams/Shenzhen/002594) has quietly abandoned work on its much touted project to build a $1bn factory in Turkey, Stella Li, an executive vice president at the Chinese electric vehicle (EV) giant, confirmed on June 10.

The company, however, remains focused on a 4Q26 production launch for a major BYD manufacturing hub in Szeged, southern Hungary, which will serve as its definitive gateway into the EU, Li told Reuters during an interview held at BYD’s UK headquarters in London.

“Hungary is the number one priority right now. The ​second priority will be to focus on finding a second facility in Europe,” she was quoted as saying.

Sudden freeze

The sudden freeze put on the Turkish project comes less than two years after the hyping of it at a triumphant signing ceremony. In July 2024, Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and BYD CEO Wang Chuanfu inked a landmark agreement at Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul.

Photo: Li (right) applauds during the signing ceremony.

The deal was announced as a commiment to invest a billion dollars in building an electric and plug-in hybrid vehicle facility in the western industrial city of Manisa, with an annual capacity of 150,000 units.

Erdogan reiterated several times over that BYD’s investment was a landmark deal.

Sweetening the deal

To secure the investment, Ankara offered immediate and intensive sweeteners. Chief among them was the immediate suspension of a newly introduced 40% import tariff applied to Chinese EVs for the Shenzhen-based electric vehicle maker, which overtook Tesla to become the number one in its field.

With the investment deal signed, BYD went on to import vehicles into Turkey using giant car-transporter ships.

In January this year, BYD was recorded as the market leader in EV sales in Turkey, selling 3,866 vehicles. It was followed  by fellow Chinese automaker Chery Automobile (Shenzen/9973) with 2,257 and Turkey’s "native and national" car project Togg with 2,029.

However, BYD’s sales sharply fell in the following months as the company encountered problems in getting its vehicles into Turkey. In January-May, it was still the second largest EV seller in the country, selling 6,690 vehicles (equivalent to a 10% share in overall EV sales of 65,805), while Togg took top spot, selling 16,745 units.

In 2025, Togg sold 39,020 units in Turkey, ahead of Tesla Inc (Nasdaq/TSLA) (sales of 31,509 units) and BYD (19,679). Overall, EV sales in Turkey totalled 189,868 units last year.

In 2024, BYD sold 8,331 vehicles in the country.

Not a single shovel

The regulatory exemption provided to BYD was designed to allow the carmaker to build up market share locally while its factory was under construction. Yet, main opposition Republic People’s Party (CHP) lawmaker Sevda Erdan Kilic revealed in February that not a single shovel had hit the ground in Manisa.

Li in her interview confirmed that BYD has not started building ​the plant, which has been placed on hold. She added that the company does not have a ​timeline for starting production in Turkey.

Looking for idled factories in Europe

Li also confirmed that the company currently has no definitive realisation schedule for the Turkish facility. Instead, it is prioritising its Hungarian assets while exploring the acquisition of existing and idled automotive factories elsewhere in Europe to absorb the impact of Brussels’ anti-subsidy tariffs.

Delays in Hungary too

The company is planning to invest around €4bn in the Szeged facility, supposed to have an annual production capacity of 0.3mn vehicles at its peak.

Last September, Li said that the Hungary plant would be launched by the end of 2025. On June 10, she said that the company was still installing equipment at the plant.

BYD and rival Chery have, meanwhile, been launching new plants in China. Chery has delayed its Barcelona investment, conducted by local unit Ebro, several times.