BYD Atto 3 & Dolphin Will Soon Be Produced In Hungary
The bigger news though is for BYD to soon also be rolling out an ‘Atto 2’ for Europe in the coming years.
While Europe is trying its darnedest to stem the flow of Chinese EVs into its land, arguably the biggest player in that segment has already been laying the foundation to sidestep whatever tariffs the bureaucrats in Brussels enact. Such is as BYD has already begun construction of a production site for its cars in the old Continent, with its Hungary plant soon to roll out the Atto 3 and Dolphin from 2025.
BYD previously had intended for its cheap and cheerful Seagull to be the first model built in the Hungarian site, but it appears that priorities has since shifted for the automaker. This is likely because the Dolphin and Atto 3 should sell in higher numbers than the subcompact EV, and have higher margins per vehicle for the automaker to make it economically feasible for European assembly.
The bigger news with regards to models rolling out of Hungary here though is for BYD’s European boss, Stella Li, to have recently teased that an ‘Atto 2’ will soon be joining its Atto 3 and Dolphin on the production line over there soon enough. There has thus far been no official confirmation of what exactly this ‘Atto 2’ will be, but it is expected for it to be a rebranded version of the Yuan Up that was shown earlier this year and is already available in China.
The Chinese automaker currently intends for its Hungarian site to see its first EVs roll off its production line sometime in the second half of next year, with production supposedly ramping up production towards the end of 2025. This site in Szeged is touted as BYD’s first car production plant in Europe, but it actually already has an e-bus production facility in Komarom (also in Hungary) since 2016.
Aside from manufacturing cars in Europe for Europe, BYD has also stated that it is currently working to establish a new EV supply chain in Europ. It is currently looking to assemble battery packs in Hungary and Turkey, which will hence see it only needing to import battery cells from its home country.
BYD currently has 250 branches in 19 European countries and offers six electric models in the continent: the Han, Tang, Atto 3, Seal, Seal U and Dolphin. In response to slowing EV sales over there, it is currently expected for the Chinese automaker to augment its current all-electric lineup with a selection of plug-in hybrid offerings soon.