Recently, a claim was made that hit the agenda of the car market in Turkey like a bombshell. The claim stated that China-based BYD, one of the largest car manufacturers in the world and which has been active in our country for some time, would invest in Turkey and set up a factory. However, it was also added that nothing was definite.

Today, the expected development took place. An agreement was signed between BYD and the Ministry of Industry and Technology for investment in Turkey. BYD’s Board of Directors was hosted at the Dolmabahçe Presidential Office.

With an investment of 1 billion dollars, a factory with a capacity of 150,000 vehicles will be built!

The signatures were done with the participation of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Minister of Industry and Technology Mehmet Fatih Kacır and BYD Chairman Wang Chuanfu. Details about the investment of the giant company were also shared.

Accordingly, BYD will invest around $1 billion in Turkey. The company plans to set up a facility for electric and plug-in hybrid cars with an annual capacity of 150,000 vehicles and an R&D center for sustainable mobility technologies. There is no official statement yet on where the facility will be located, but it was rumored to be in Manisa.

Production starts in late 2026

The statements mention BYD’s facility Production will start at the end of 2026 was expressed. It was also stated that the facility will directly employ up to 5,000 people. According to journalist Emre Özpeynirci, this investment was the first direct investment of a foreign company in our country since 1997. We hope that more will follow.

Recently, additional taxes were levied on cars coming from China. BYD will be exempted from this tax with its investment. Özpeynirci also says that in the first phase, we may see plug-in hybrid vehicles from the company. As is known, a proposal was recently submitted to parliament to reduce the Special Consumption Tax on plug-in hybrids in order to attract investment.