In May 2023, news emerged that Chinese automaker BYD was planning to build an electric vehicle factory in Vietnam, sparking interest. However, over a year later, the company has temporarily shelved these plans, instead prioritizing a factory in Indonesia. Now, they have set their sights on another market: Cambodia.
Specifically, on July 15, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet posted on his personal page that he had met with Liu Xueliang, CEO of BYD Asia Pacific Auto Sales Division, and announced that BYD would be building a factory with a capacity of 20,000 vehicles in the country.
The BYD Dolphin is one of the new electric vehicles launched in Vietnam.
In Cambodia, electric vehicle sales were recorded at just 5 units in 2020. This number rose to 63 in 2021 but peaked at 663 in 2022 before falling to 604 last year. The term “electric vehicles” in this data includes not just four-wheeled cars but also two and three-wheeled vehicles.
BYD initially entered the Cambodian market in 2020, and this year, two new stores opened in Phnom Penh. Currently, there are ten international companies selling new energy vehicles in Cambodia, including BMW, Tesla, and Toyota, as well as Chinese companies Hongqi, Wuling, and GAC Aion.
However, BYD has established itself as the market leader, selling 658 vehicles in the first half of 2024, accounting for over 40 percent of the 1,614 electric vehicles sold during this period. BYD has not provided any response regarding the construction of the factory in Cambodia.
In terms of market size, growth forecast, and infrastructure, Vietnam is a far more attractive location than Cambodia for a BYD factory, according to CarNewsChina.
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