Officials from Turkey’s Ministry of Industry and Technology told Nikkei Asia that, due to no progress being seen on BYD’s investment project in Turkey, the authorities stopped providing import duty exemption incentives to the company in early 2026 and warned that if the total $1 billion investment plan cannot be realized, BYD will be required by law to return all tax exemptions it has received. As a result, BYD’s sales in the Turkish market have plummeted sharply — total sales for 2025 were approximately 45,500 vehicles, a more than fivefold increase over the previous year, but in May of this year only 152 vehicles were recorded, far below the 3,866 vehicles in January. BYD did not comment on its business in Turkey.
In July 2024, BYD reached an agreement with Turkey, pledging to build a factory in Manisa, western Turkey, with an annual production capacity of 150,000 battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids, and to establish an R&D center. The factory was expected to begin production by the end of 2026 and create 5,000 jobs — if fulfilled, it would mark the first new capacity from a foreign automaker in Turkey since 1997. The Turkish government offered to waive import tariffs and dealer service network requirements in exchange. However, two years have passed and the Manisa factory has yet to break ground. Concerns are growing within the Turkish government, and opposition parties are also escalating their criticism.