Thai-made BYD Starts Exporting To Europe, Dolphin Model Becomes First

BYD Dolphin at BYD factory in Thailand. (Photo: BYD Global)

JAKARTA - BYD began shipping Thai-made vehicles to Europe for the first time. More than 900 BYD Dolphin units sailed to Germany, Belgium, and the UK.

Quoting from the Carnewschina page, Wednesday, August 28, the first wave of Dolphins left Thailand on a ship owned by BYD, BYD Zhengzhou. This is the first time Zhengzhou has sailed from Thailand to Europe.

Rayong-based CKD plant, which started operating in July 2024, is BYD's first passenger car factory fully owned outside China.

With an annual production capacity of 150,000 vehicles, the plant serves the local Thai market and exports abroad. In fact, in July, the Thai plant reached a milestone of 990,000, a year after it started operating.

General Manager of Thailand BYD Ke Yubin, said that after the delivery of the company's new 90.000th electric vehicle in July, Thailand's BYD won another breakthrough.

"The export of the Thai-made Dolphin model to Europe for the first time is not only a step forward in BYD's globalization strategy, but also underscores Thailand's vital role in the global electric vehicle supply chain," he said.

CKD (Completely Knocked Down) refers to the vehicle delivery method in the form of spare parts and is assembled in the destination country. Car manufacturers use CKD kits to reduce import rates and support local production.

As is known, BYD sold 545,003 electric vehicles abroad in the first seven months of this year (January July). This figure increased 133.5 percent compared to the same period last year.

BYD will also present a large factory in Indonesia which will be inaugurated later this year. Currently, the brand has sold various electric vehicle models, most recently, Atto 1 which is priced below IDR 200 million.