Planned Turkey Factory Could Flood UK Market With Chinese EVs

Jim Saker, professor at the Loughborough University, said UK car makers will find it very difficult to compete if BYD can avoid export tariffs.

BYD electric cars for export waiting to be loaded on the "BYD Explorer NO.1," a domestically manufactured vessel intended to export Chinese automobiles, at Yantai port, in eastern China's Shandong Province, on Jan. 10, 2024. STR/AFP via Getty Images

Chinese electric car maker BYD’s plan to make 150,000 cars a year in Turkey could allow the company to avoid tariffs, making it “a lot easier” to export to the UK and elsewhere.

Bypassing tariffs would also make it “very, very difficult” for domestic manufacturers to compete with the Chinese brand, says Jim Saker, professor at the Loughborough University.