On July 1, BYD hosted a ceremony to deliver its first 1000 vehicles in Indonesia, with BYD Founder and CEO Wang Chuanfu personally handing over the cars to Indonesian customers. The launch featured the BYD Dolphin, Seal, and Atto 3, models that launched in Indonesia this past January.

At the launch event, Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto, announced that BYD will invest 1.3 billion USD to build a car factory in Indonesia with a production capacity of 150,000 vehicles.

Eagle Zhao, President of BYD Indonesia, stated that the company plans to begin the construction of these facilities later this year and will establish up to 50 sales outlets nationwide by the end of 2024.

In April, BYD selected “Subang Smart City” as the site for its electric vehicle factory. The industrial park will cover 108 hectares and include a research and development center as well as training facilities with environmental protection technologies.  

The Indonesian factory marks BYD’s second major production facility in Southeast Asia, following the already established Thailand facility. The Thailand factory began trial production earlier this spring and will start mass production on July 4, ramping up to eventually building 150,000 cars per year. BYD has also recently started the first batch of mass-produced vehicles at its Uzbekistan factory with an initial production volume of 50,000 cars.

EV market in Indonesia

Indonesia has been actively courting EV manufacturers with various incentives such as eliminating import tariffs and offering tax-breaks for businesses that invest in local EV factories. BYD has put on hold its plans to build a Vietnam manufacturing plant. Instead, it focuses more on Indonesia and Thailand as its primary Southeast Asia manufacturing hubs. While BYD cars sold in Southeast Asia will initially be imported from China, in the future they will come from Thailand and Indonesia as production ramps up.

Domestically, Indonesia has set a target of 50,000 electric vehicle sales in 2024. The country has recorded 9,178 units in sales of electric vehicles so far in January-May 2024, with BYD occupying around 10% of sales. Data from the Indonesian Automotive Manufacturers Association shows Indonesian electric car sales in 2023 at 17,051 units.

Sources: Yiche