The Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD has broken ground on a new assembly plant in Cambodia, as it continues to expand production in Southeast Asia, according to local media reports.
The $32-million plant, occupying 12-hectare site in the Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone, is expected to start production in November of this year, the Phnom Penh Post reported. Planned annual capacity is 10,000 vehicles.
The first phase will assemble mainly battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles from completely knocked-down (CKD) kits imported from China, the China News Service reported.
The EV market in Cambodia is relatively small but growing rapidly. A total of 2,253 EVs were registered in the country in 2024, up from just 313 in 2023, The Phnom Penh Post said.
The Cambodia plant would be BYD’s second in Southeast Asia after Thailand, where it opened a wholly owned facility in July 2024, with an annual capacity of 150,000 vehicles.
BYD is also planning to complete construction of its $1-billion Indonesian plant by the end of 2025, Reuters reported in January.
BYD last year surpassed rival Tesla as the world’s largest maker of battery EVs, producing 1,777,965 units, versus 1,774,442 for Tesla. BYD also makes hybrid vehicles and its total global sales last year reached 4.27 million. It has set a goal to sell 5.5 million units this year.