The groundbreaking ceremony for BYD’s new battery manufacturing plant in Thailand, developed in partnership with local manufacturer Kim Long Motor Automotive (KLM), took place on Tuesday.
According to the Vietnamese government, the project involves a $130 million investment and will be located within the ‘Kim Long Motor Automotive Manufacturing and Assembly Industrial Park’ in Hue.
The plant will manufacture batteries for trucks, buses, minivans, and other vehicles to meet Vietnam’s growing demand and support exports.
The first phase of the project will cover over 473,000 square feet (nearly 11 acres) and is designed to become “one of the leading electric vehicle battery manufacturing plants, with a capacity of 3 GWh per year.”
In the second phase, the factory will also produce batteries for passenger vehicles. By then, the plant’s size will be expanded to 1 million square feet or 24.7 acres, and increase its annual capacity to 6 GWh.
Speaking at the ceremony, KLM’s General Director Dao Viet Anh said that, once operation, the plant will help the companies reach over 80% localization by mid-2026 and gradually build a regional hub for batteries and electric vehicles, Dao said.
However, the announcement did not specify a timeline for operations to begin.
Last August, KLM also reached an agreement with South Korean battery manufacturer LG Energy Solution (LGES) — which supplies batteries to Tesla — to assemble battery cells into battery packs at his Hue facility.
The LGES batteries are used for KLM’s electric buses.
BYD Overseas Production
BYD is expanding its market presence overseas, which also includes its manufacturing footprint.
The company operates factories in Thailand, Uzbekistan and Brazil expected to provide 300,000 units per year of combined capacity.
In Europe, BYD is nearly finishing construction of its factory in Hungary, where it has established its European headquarters earlier this year.
Its Executive VP Stella Li confirmed that production is scheduled to begin in the second quarter of 2026.
A third European factory is under consideration according to several reports; however, no location has been revealed yet.
Late last year, Piper Sandler noted that the company will additionally produce vehicles in Malaysia and Cambodia, and is “also targeting Japan” production, just after it unveiled its first market-specific vehicle, the kei car ‘Racco.’
The company aims to achieve 1.3 million sales outside China this year, a 24.3% increase year over year.
EVs in Vietnam
BYD‘s lineup in Vietnam includes both plug-in hybrid and fully electric models.
These include the fully electric Dolphin compact; Seal and Han sedans; Atto 2, Atto 3 and the Sealion 8 SUVs; and the M6 multi-purpose van.
Additionally, the portfolio includes three PHEVs: the Sealion 6 SUV, the Seal 5 sedan and the M9 MPV.
Vietnam is home to EV maker Vinfast, part of the country’s largest conglomerate Vingroup.
The company operates two production facilities in its home country, while planning to open a smaller factory in Indonesia.
Vinfast opened its first overseas assembly plant in India last August, which will export for South Asian, Middle East and African countries.
After initially focusing on American markets, Vinfast is now shifting its strategy to target sales in Asia and Europe, Bloomberg reported last year.
Vinfast sold 175,099 EVs in its domestic market last year.
According to the company, 2025 sales figures “shattered all previous records for vehicle deliveries by a single brand in Vietnam, nearly doubling the former record held by foreign automakers.”
