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I just wrote an article yesterday about Chinese EV companies probably taking over the global auto market. And then what news do I see this morning? News that BYD is in talks with Stellantis and other European automakers about potentially taking over their underused factories in Europe.
“We are talking to not only Stellantis, we’re talking to other companies too,” BYD vice president Stella Li said on the sidelines of an auto conference in London this week. “We are looking for any available plant in Europe because we do want to utilize this kind of spare capacity.”
Translation: We have enough demand and expected demand for our electric vehicles that we are prepared to buy underutilized factories from European automakers.
Naturally, despite fears some Europeans will have of Chinese automakers taking over their markets, this would probably lead to more jobs in those places. (Though, whether there are serious long-term concerns about the economic effects of this, well, that is certainly up for debate!) The fact of the matter is, though, if Stellantis and others are not using factory space or on the verge of shutting factories down, why not provide companies like BYD the opportunity to build clean, electric cars in Europe?
