Recently, during a media event in Melbourne, Australia, BYD Vice President Liu Xueliang was asked by the media whether the company would assemble new cars locally. He stated that the company remains open to producing automotive parts and even complete vehicle assembly locally in the future, playfully throwing out the phrase "Anything is possible!", sparking speculation.
According to media reports, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese recently stated that the technological changes brought by the wave of electric vehicles could become an opportunity for Australia to revitalize its automotive manufacturing industry. However, when asked whether BYD has discussed relevant plans with the Australian government, Liu Xueliang responded that the relevant projects have not yet been included in formal planning.
"At this stage, this is not in our plans. Our primary task remains to expand sales and meet consumer demands. However, BYD always remains open to opportunities, so anything is possible to happen."
When Liu Xueliang attended the relevant event, BYD's exclusive car transport fleet, the "Zhengzhou", had just arrived at Melbourne Port and began unloading 4,309 new cars shipped from Shanghai. He also revealed that future development focus for BYD in the Australian market would not be limited to the passenger car sector but would further expand into the commercial vehicle market.
"Everyone has seen BYD's energy storage system products, but in the future what we bring includes not only passenger cars but also more commercial vehicle products. I believe many commercial vehicle practitioners currently face significant pressure because diesel prices have risen significantly."
Relying on a highly vertically integrated supply chain system, BYD has obvious advantages in cost control. The company controls most supply chain resources from batteries to key components, helping to improve production efficiency and reduce manufacturing costs.
In the Australian market, BYD has now risen to become the second largest selling car brand locally, second only to Toyota. Besides production bases in China, BYD also has automotive production facilities in Thailand, Brazil, and Uzbekistan, while operating a battery factory in California, USA, and plans to build multiple production bases in Europe in the future.
In fact, Australia and China signed a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) as early as 2015. At that time, Australia's automotive manufacturing industry was gradually exiting the historical stage. Ford closed its local production business in 2016, while Holden and Toyota ended their Australian manufacturing businesses in 2017 respectively.
Benefiting from the Free Trade Agreement, imported Chinese cars currently enter the Australian market without paying tariffs or import taxes, enjoying the same treatment as imported vehicles from countries such as Japan and Thailand that have also signed free trade agreements with Australia.
Although BYD does not currently have a specific timeline for setting up a factory in Australia, judging from the management's statement that "anything is possible to happen", the possibility of producing parts or even CKD assembly locally in the future is obviously not excluded.
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