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BYD's Stella Li calls EU tariffs unfair

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BYD, Leapmotor undecided on passing tariff cost to

consumers

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BYD's Hungary plant will produce almost all EV models

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BYD expanding dealer network in Germany to boost sales

(Adds detail, comments from Leapmotor International,

background)

By Victoria Waldersee

PARIS, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Chinese EV giant BYD on Monday

slammed the EU's planned tariffs on Chinese-made EVs but said it

planned to make almost all the cars it sells in Europe locally,

joining a string of Chinese carmakers accelerating plans for

manufacturing in the region.

BYD, the second-largest producer of

battery-electric cars globally after Tesla, plans to

produce components in Europe and assemble battery packs at its

European plants in Hungary and Turkey, importing only the

battery cell from China, Executive Vice President Stella Li told

Reuters in an interview at the Paris car show.

It is still deciding whether to pass the cost of tariffs -

17% for BYD on top of an existing tariff of 10% - onto consumers

or absorb the hit, Li said, adding she did not expect BYD to be

able to sell cars in Europe for under 30,000 euros ($32,745).

"We disagree a lot on the calculations... it's not a fair

judgement," Li said, speaking on the sidelines of the Paris car

show. "Politicians should stay away from tariffs, adding more

cost to auto manufacturing and confusing the auto industry."

Also in Paris, Tianshu Xin, CEO of the Leapmotor

International JV controlled by Stellantis ( STLA ), said the EU tariffs

could impact which models the company makes in Europe at

Stellantis ( STLA ) plants, but said it was too soon to say which ones.

When asked about whether the company would pass on tariff

costs to consumers, Xin said decisions were not yet finalised

but the company was capable of absorbing some costs because 60%

of its vehicle development is done in-house.

SUPPLY CHAIN

Asked about BYD's European manufacturing plans, Li said the

company would produce almost all of its EVs in Hungary and that

it would "buy the maximum from European vendors" in terms of its

supply chain, as well as buying from other Chinese suppliers

setting up shop in Europe.

Exports are a major part of the company's growth strategy,

with assembly lines under construction around the globe from

Brazil to Uzbekistan.

Asked why BYD was having a hard time in Germany, Li said: "I

think we did not build the infrastructure right".

"Now we are just correcting and starting to build our

network ... We need to add more service points which we have

already done and more dealer networks," she said.

BYD bought its German distributor Hedin Electric Mobility in

August to take greater control of sales in the German market,

which totalled just over 4,000 last year but slumped to just

under 1,500 in the first half of this year, in line with an

industry-wide slowdown in EV demand.

"You will see the change very soon - you will see a lot of

BYD cars on the street in Germany," Li said

($1 = 0.9162 euros)