The Guardian10 Jun 2026Market
Automatically composed with AI from the cited sources
BYD plans to spend nearly £1.8bn on fast-charging infrastructure in Europe capable of recharging its cars in five minutes. Its new Hungary plant will start assembling vehicles in the fourth quarter of this year, while work on a site in Turkey is paused. BYD aims to sell 1.5m vehicles overseas in 2026, up from 1.05m last year, as it targets overtaking Toyota—which sold 11.3m vehicles in 2025 against BYD’s 4.8m. The Pentagon added BYD to a list of Chinese military companies deemed a security risk, and Hungarian authorities issued sanctions against contractors after allegations of employment-law breaches and soil contamination at the Szeged factory site.