KARACHI:
Chinese electric vehicle giant BYD plans to roll out its first car assembled in Pakistan by July or August 2026 to capture growing demand for electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles in the region, a company executive said on Wednesday.
BYD, the world’s top EV maker, has been expanding rapidly outside its home market, where it is in a strong price war. The Pakistan plant addresses rising demand from emerging markets and allows the company to take advantage of incentives offered by the Pakistani government.
The plant has been under construction since April near Karachi in a partnership between BYD and Mega Motor Company, a subsidiary of Hub Power, Danish Khaliq, Vice President of Sales and Strategy at BYD Pakistan, told Reuters.
It would initially have the capacity to produce 25,000 units a year on a double shift, he said. He did not elaborate on when the plant would achieve full capacity or say when mass production would begin there.
The plant will start by assembling imported parts, with some local production of non-electric components, Khaliq said, adding it would initially produce vehicles for the domestic market, with potential to export to right-hand drive countries in the region depending on freight costs and business economics.
“We do not foresee excess capacity in our system as demand in Pakistan will catch up,” he said.
BYD started delivering imported EVs in Pakistan in March. Khaliq did not give an exact sales number but said sales of a few hundred cars had exceeded internal targets by 30%. Khaliq said he expected the market size of EVs and plug-in hybrid cars in Pakistan to grow three to four times in 2025 from around 1,000 total units in 2024. BYD is targeting a 30-35% share of the segment, he said.
Based on a Hubco filing, BYD Pakistan made around Rs444 million ($1.56 million) in profit in the March 2025 quarter.