BYD Aims to Double Its European Sales Network in 2026

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I wasn’t sure how BYD’s, or other Chinese EV producers’, efforts to sell electric vehicles in Europe would go. Europe is full of domestic automakers, with plenty of brand allegiance and also automakers having plenty of influence over local and European politics. However, clearly, Chinese EV companies have been at the forefront of the EV transition in recent years, most notably BYD.

When I saw a couple of months ago that BYD outsold Tesla in Europe in August, I was definitely impressed to see how quick the brand was growing its network and sales in Europe. It is also building a factory in Hungary, with initial trial production expected in the first quarter of 2026. So, that will help BYD to get around tariffs and will certainly juice sales. Furthermore, the company is already planning a second European factory in Turkey and maybe even a third one, possibly in Spain.

Now we have news from Maria Grazia Davino, regional MD for Europe at BYD, that the company expects to have “1,000 points of sale in Europe” by the end of 2025, and then plans to double that in 2026.

“In line with successful competitors, we need to have proximity and win proximity to the European customers,” Davino added.

BYD is currently in 29 different country markets in Europe. Davino did not indicate how many country markets they expect to have a presence in by the end of 2026.

BYD sold 80,807 vehicles in Europe in the first nine months of 2025, all plugin vehicles. Though, with tariffs put on fully electric vehicles (BEVs) from China, the company has shifted to selling a lot more plugin hybrids (PHEVs) there. Perhaps the balance will shift back to BEVs once the Hungary factory is up and running.

Can BYD grow to a large scale and cement itself as a serious automotive players in Europe?