On May 13, Bloomberg reported that BYD’s executive vice president and head of international business Li Ke said on Wednesday that the company was negotiating with Strantis and other European automakers to discuss taking over factories with underutilized capacity in the region.Li Ke said in an interview on Wednesday that BYD was discussing potential deals to take over factories in countries such as Italy.
BYD
"We are not only talking with Strantis, but also with other companies. We are looking for any available factories in Europe because we really want to use this idle capacity." Li Ke said on the sidelines of the Financial Times Future Auto Conference in London.
Prior to Li Ke's remarks, Stratis announced a plan earlier this month to cooperate more closely with Leapmotor in Europe. The company's two Spanish factories will produce electric vehicles for Leapmotor. Other European automakers also face high costs and fierce competition and are open to similar deals with Chinese companies.
Li Ke said that BYD prefers to operate these factories independently rather than establishing joint ventures.
BYD has been actively expanding overseas markets under the leadership of Li Ke, and the company's sales in Europe have increased significantly. BYD has benefited from renewed consumer interest in electric vehicles since conflict in the Middle East sent fuel prices soaring.
According to a report by Bloomberg last month,BYD has been stepping up efforts to recruit talent from rivals to strengthen its Denza range of products in the European market. The premium brand will go on sale in the UK later this year.