China’s BYD plans to build a new manufacturing facility in Brazil within the next two to three years, as surging demand for electric buses has fully absorbed capacity at its existing operations, a senior company executive said.
The new factory would be located in São Paulo state and is expected to significantly expand BYD’s local production footprint, according to Marcelo Schneider, director of commercial vehicles at BYD Brazil, speaking to the South China Morning Post.
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BYD has assembled battery-electric bus chassis at its Campinas site since 2015, producing about 600 units over the past decade. However, Schneider said the plant is already fully booked for next year, with expected output of around 1,200 chassis in 2026, reflecting a sharp rise in confirmed orders.
Although the Campinas facility has a nominal capacity of up to 2,000 chassis per year, Schneider said real-world output is lower due to production complexity. “We also produce articulated buses, which require more time and resources,” he said, adding that this limits practical capacity.
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To address short-term demand, BYD plans to establish a temporary production facility near Campinas, which could roughly double current capacity within four to six months, Schneider said. The interim expansion will be followed by construction of a new, purpose-built factory that could consolidate BYD’s commercial vehicle production currently spread across the Campinas region.
At full scale, the new plant could produce 6,000 to 7,000 electric bus and truck chassis annually and employ 700 to 800 workers, compared with fewer than 100 employees at the existing site. The facility would also enable BYD to manufacture electric trucks locally, a segment it currently serves in Brazil through imports.
Schneider said demand has been fuelled by a broad fleet replacement cycle, particularly among public transport operators in São Paulo, where many buses remained in service longer than planned after replacement programmes were delayed during the Covid-19 pandemic.
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In addition to serving the Brazilian market, BYD intends to use the new factory as an export hub, initially targeting South America and potentially Africa in the longer term, Schneider said.
The expansion plans relate only to BYD’s operations in São Paulo state. Separately, the company has been developing a major industrial complex in Bahia state since 2023 on a former Ford site, including facilities for electric and hybrid cars, electric bus and truck chassis, and lithium iron phosphate processing for global markets.