BYD’s small car European production faces delays

The planned small electric car production in Hungary is delayed, with priority being given to compact segment cars, Capital media report citing BYD’s number two Stella Li. The first EVs to roll off the production line will be the BYD Dolphin hatchback and the Atto 3 crossover SUV next year. The company initially planned to launch a European version of the BYD Seagull small EV in 2025.

BYD is building a factory in Hungary to gain a larger share of the European EV market and avoid recently imposed tariffs. “We will start the ramp-up at the end of 2025. The first two cars we will produce will be the Dolphin and the Atto 3,” Li said in an interview with Capital. Stella Li is the Executive Vice President of BYD and is recognized as the company’s number two after the founder and CEO Wang Chuanfu.

This reveals that BYD will start the next round of European expansion in the compact segment. BYD Dolphin is comparable with Volkswagen’s ID.3 or Golf class. Atto 3 (Yuan Plus in China) is a crossover in the same class.

According to Li, the third car will be Atto 2. It is unclear what car will bear this badge, but CarNewsChina expects it to be BYD Yuan Up. It is an entry-level variant of Atto 3, which starts at 93,800 yuan (13,000 USD) in China.

BYD had originally planned to launch a European version of BYD Seagull in 2025, Capital reports. However, according to Li, this will be only the fourth model. Thus, Volkswagen plans to launch its electric small car ID.2 in 2026 for under 25,000 EUR (26,200 USD) without a counteroffer from China.

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The ramp-up of the plant in Hungary will take two to three years, according to Li. “We will proceed step by step, bringing out one model after the other.” Ultimately, the plant can build twelve different models in parallel. BYD will then no longer import cars from China.

Previously, Li said they plan to launch the Seagull in Europe in 2025: “Yes, we plan to bring it to Europe next year. But it’s not the Chinese-market Seagull; it will be a European-market Seagull, a new Seagull. You haven’t seen it yet; I have not seen it yet.”

Bloomberg reported in May that Seagull will launch in Europe in 2025 under 20,000 EUR (21,000 USD). However, that was before tariffs took place. Now, BYD wants to switch to importing plug-in hybrids and ramp up the production of all-electric vehicles in its European plant as soon as possible.

BYD Seagull, also known as Dolphin Mini in some markets, is BYD’s cheapest and best-selling car in China. It started at 69,800 yuan (9,600 USD) and sold 51,288 units in October and 348,683 units in 2024 (Jan – Oct). Seagull’s dimensions are 3780/1715/1540 mm with a 2,500 mm wheelbase.

BYD sold 3,740,930 cars in 2024 (Jan – Nov). However, European expansion still faces hurdles. In Germany, the largest European auto market, BYD delivered 2,568 cars in 2024 (Jan – Nov), down 25.3% from the same period the year before, according to KBA data monitored by China EV DataTracker.

In November, it was reported that the Chinese ambassador to Hungary visited the construction site in Szeged, revealing that BYD’s first European EV factory opening is planned for November 7, 2025.