BYD Exports Cars from Thailand, a Strategy to Avoid EU Tariffs

KatadataOTO – BYD has its own way of getting around the high import tariffs on electric cars in the European Union. One of them is by assembling from other facilities outside of China.

In August 2025, it is known that BYD has started exporting the BYD Dolphin electric car to the European market for the first time. A total of about 900 units were sent to Germany, Belgium, and the United Kingdom.

This also marks the first time the BYD Zhengzhou ship has sailed from Thailand to the European continent.

“The export of Thai-made Dolphins to Europe not only represents a step forward in BYD's global strategy, but also highlights Thailand's important role in the global Electric Vehicle (EV) supply chain,” said Ke Yubin, General Manager of BYD Thailand, quoted from Carnewschina, Thursday (28/08).

Photo : BYD

It should be noted that the BYD factory in Thailand is their first facility built outside of China.

The BYD factory has been operating since July 2024 with a capacity of 150,000 vehicles. The Thai-assembled units meet both domestic and export needs.

One year after its operations began, BYD recorded a delivery of 90,000 units to consumers.

The presence of assembly facilities outside of China helps BYD to continue marketing its vehicle lineup to a number of global markets that apply import tariffs on electric cars, such as the European Union.

Thanks to this strategy, BYD is said to have been able to sell 545,003 EV units during the first seven months of 2025, from January to July 2025.

For your information, BYD is not only building factories in Thailand but also in Indonesia and Malaysia.

Domestically, the BYD factory in the Subang area is targeted for completion in 2026 and will soon be able to market locally assembled electric cars.

Photo : BYD

Just like in Thailand, the BYD factory will have a production capacity of 150,000 units and will be adjusted to the needs and demands of domestic consumers.

Following that, BYD also announced the construction of a new factory in Malaysia. The facility's area in the neighboring country is larger than the one domestically.

Thus, it is certain that more electric car production can be carried out there.

However, the presence of BYD factories in Indonesia and Malaysia opens up export opportunities. Especially to help BYD meet the demand for electrified vehicles in Europe.