“It is not fair for French consumers to impose these customs duties,” Stella Li, vice president of Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer BYD, told BFM Business in reaction to the surcharges decided by Europe.
“It will prevent consumers from buying these cars because they have to pay an additional cost to access the technology,” says Stella Li of the Paris Motor Show.
The European Union has announced compensatory customs duties of up to 35%, in addition to the 10% that already exists. BYD announced that it would not pass this cost on to the consumer.
Soon new BYD factories in Europe?
To face these surcharges, the manufacturer announced that it would “orient itself towards the European market” to produce at the end of next year on European soil, in particular in its factory in Hungary. “We are going to invest a lot in our European factories,” added Stella Li, who has not closed the door to opening other factories in Europe “in the future.”
While French manufacturers are worried about the arrival of BYD on European soil and fear the closure of factories, Stella Li encouraged them to “invest in technology.”
“Everyone must understand that electrification is the future; if they don’t believe it, they will quit,” he said. “If we invest in the future, we can always modernize factories and technologies, and if there are qualified workers interested, we can continue to make profits,” he says.
Source: BFM TV
