A BYD Sealion 05 on display at the Beijing Auto Show in April 2026. Credit: CnEVPost
- BYD aims to raise the local content of its Brazil-made cars to 50% by the start of 2027.
- BYD plans to invest about $100 million in energy storage systems to support Brazil’s national grid.
BYD (HKEX: 1211) is scaling up its battery production in Brazil, a move aimed at pushing deeper into local manufacturing, a senior executive told Reuters.
The Chinese new energy vehicle (NEV) maker is also preparing to invest about $100 million to enter the business of energy storage systems that support Brazil’s national grid.
The expansion is part of a broader strategy. Alexandre Baldy, senior vice president of BYD Brazil, said in a Monday interview with Reuters that the company aims to raise the local content of its Brazil-made cars to 50% by the start of 2027.
“We are localizing,” Baldy said, “so that we can truly become a Brazilian manufacturer. The battery is one more item, an important component.”
The company aims to become the best-selling car brand in Brazil by 2030. BYD is already among the top five brands in the country, Reuters noted.
Local production of passenger car batteries is part of the company’s existing investment plan. BYD plans to invest 5.5 billion reais ($1.08 billion) in its flagship plant in Camaçari, in Bahia state.
Separately, BYD will invest between 50 million and 60 million reais to expand a line producing bus batteries.
The company is also preparing to invest up to 500 million reais ($98 million) to build a new production line for its Battery Energy Storage System (BESS). The system is used to store electricity for the national grid.
“This truly opens a new frontier for a new battery segment,” Baldy said.
BYD will decide in the next 90 days whether to use the BESS investment to add a production line at its Manaus plant, currently focused on bus batteries, or to build a new facility elsewhere, according to the report.
To meet government requirements and ease its tax burden, BYD is ramping up local sourcing at its plant in Bahia state.
BYD started production at its passenger car plant in Camaçari in July 2025. The first model to roll off the line was the Seagull, renamed locally as the Dolphin Mini.
As competition in its home market intensifies, overseas business is becoming increasingly important for the Shenzhen-based manufacturer.
The company had originally aimed to sell 1.3 million cars overseas in 2026, a target it raised to 1.5 million in March.
BYD shares surged Monday, boosted by reports that its Brazil plant secured orders for 100,000 vehicles from Argentina and Mexico.
