BYD plans to begin electric vehicle (EV) production in Indonesia in 2026, according to local reports citing former minister for maritime affairs and investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan who was said to have close connections with the automaker.
BYD reportedly plans to hold a ground breaking ceremony for the plant in July but hasn’t announced location.
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Local subsidiary, BYD Motor Indonesia, officially launched the Seal, Atto 3 and Dolphin models in Indonesia last January and plans 50 operating dealers by the end of the year.
The current minister of economic affairs, Airlangga Hartarto, in January said BYD was committed “to investing (IDR20trn) US$1.3bn in a plant with an annual production capacity of 150,000 vehicles”.
The facility would produce plug in hybrid and battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and was expected to be in one of the industrial zones in West Java, east of Jakarta.
Almost 17,000 BEVs were sold in Indonesia last year, up from just 10,000 units in 2022, with Hyundai accounting for 7,460 thanks mainly to its locally assembled Ioniq 5.
SAIC-GM-Wuling sold 7,000 BEVs with the Air its best selling model with 5,600 units.
Its Binguo small car is now the company’s best selling Wuling BEV following its launch in December.
