When will BYD really assemble cars completely in Bahia?
Renewal of import quotas for kits for electrified cars leaves open whether BYD will actually assemble complete cars in July
BYD's unit in Camaçari produces cars under the SKD regime, which can be imported with tax exemption until the end of the year (Photos: BYD | Disclosure)
When will BYD start fully assembling the cars it produces in Brazil? This is a question that not even the brand can answer and, judging by the countless statements to the press, it is impossible to set a precise date.
Since 2023, when BYD agreed with the government of Bahia to purchase the old Ford facility in Camaçari, the company has started a novena of dates and more dates. Schedules that were trumpeted in all the press, but with dates that were not very precise. The most recent is the complete production of automobiles at the Bahian unit.
According to the brand’s vice president, Alexandre Baldy, who, in January of this year, told Autoesporte that he would start complete manufacturing in Camaçari, with the right to stamping, painting and other processes done locally, at the end of July. “It’s not SKD, it’s local production. That is our goal,” Baldy pointed out to Autoesporte.
With the switch to full production, the entire car manufacturing process takes place within the facility, unlike SKD
However, the renewal of import quotas for SKD kits (with partially finished cars) for another six months – the deadline would end at the end of June – leaves the question open. When will BYD stop using SKD to produce its cars completely?
If we consider the date set by the executive to start full production and the end of the benefit, it would be an interval of only one month with a full import tariff (35%) for SKD kits. That is, it would not take another 180 days and 463 million dollars in imports at zero cost.
AutoPapo asked BYD if it would maintain the schedule for the complete assembly of cars made at the Bahian plant from the end of July, with local stamping, as well as the acquisition of components by local suppliers. Until the publication of this report, the brand did not have a response.
No suppliers
In an interview with AutoPapo, the president of the National Union of Automotive Vehicle Components Industry (Sindipeças), Cláudio Sahad, commented on the situation of Chinese factories in relation to their affiliates. According to him, GWM sought him out to enable the nationalization of parts and components of the models to be produced in Brazil.
According to Sahad, there was an understanding between the Chinese and their associates. GWM dismantled its models so that suppliers could study the feasibility of nationalizing parts.
BYD also sought him in 2025, but did not return to any understanding with Sindipeças members. Cláudio Sahad added that he knew of some direct negotiations between the Chinese brand and some manufacturers for supply proposals, but BYD replied to all that it would not be interested, “because they are much more expensive than Chinese manufacturers”. And it confirmed that Gecex’s decision would only benefit BYD, as the import quota of 20 thousand vehicles exempt from taxes was not in the interest of the other two Chinese companies with factories in Brazil, GWM and Geely.
History
In July 2023, BYD announced that it would install its assembly line in Camaçari (BA), after sewing an agreement with the Bahian government. The plant was promised to start operating in 2024, with an assembly line for electric truck and bus chassis, a line for passenger cars and a processing unit for minerals, such as lithium and iron-phosphate, for the production of batteries.
However, the announcement of the start of the works was only made in May 2024, almost a year after the closing of the agreement with the Bahian government for the acquisition of the former Ford facilities.
Inauguration of the BYD factory was attended by President Lula (Photo: Ricardo Stuckert/PR)
Also in 2024, in December, BYD announced that it would start production in March 2025, during a meeting between the automaker’s chief executive in the Americas, Stella Li, and the President of the Republic, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
The date was established shortly after BYD was denounced by the Public Ministry of Labor and Employment (MTE), after the rescue of 163 Chinese workers in a situation analogous to slavery. The workers were hired by the Jinjiang Group for the construction of the complex. At the time, BYD claimed to be unaware of the facts.
In July 2025, BYD took the press to the presentation of the factory, with figurative cars on the assembly line, which was not yet able to operate. The automaker said that the event would only be to show the progress of the works, and operations, under the SKD regime, only actually started on October 14, 2025.
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