Brazilian President Lula becomes the registered owner of BYD's 14 millionth vehicle, a Song Pro hybrid SUV. Photo: Courtesy of BYD

Chinese automaker BYD on Thursday held a ceremony to mark a milestone as its 14 millionth new-energy vehicle (NEV) rolled off the line at its passenger-car plant in Camacari, in the Northeastern State of Bahia in Brazil. The company presented the vehicle — a Song Pro plug-in hybrid SUV — to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who attended the ceremony.
According to a note sent to the Global Times on Friday, the roll-out of BYD's 14 millionth NEV represents a symbolic milestone for the company as it accelerates its overseas expansion.

The Camacari complex is "BYD's largest facility outside Asia and the biggest electric vehicle factory in Latin America," representing an investment of $5.5 billion reais($978 million), according to a South China Morning Post report.

The ceremony was attended by Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Brazilian Vice-President Geraldo Alckmin, Chinese Ambassador to Brazil Zhu Qingqiao, state and local officials, as well as BYD's chairman and CEO Wang Chuanfu, according to BYD.

In his remarks, Lula said Brazil would "continue to strengthen ties with China," which he noted has been Brazil's largest trading partner for the past 15 years. "We view each other as important countries of the Global South," he said at the ceremony, adding that Brazil seeks respect and fair treatment in its international relations and hopes to build similar partnerships with other countries, as reported by Cankaoxiaoxi, a newspaper under the Xinhua News Agency.
 
At the ceremony, Wang thanked the Chinese and Brazilian governments, partners, and users for their long-term support. He said, "BYD has been in Brazil for over 11 years, and BYD electric buses are now commonplace in the country. Today, BYD has over 170,000 owners in Brazil and has been the top seller in the Brazilian NEV market for two consecutive years. "BYD in Brazil is not only an investor, but also a long-term partner," he noted.

BYD said the milestone marks a new stage in its globalization drive and reflects a strategy of integrating international expansion with local manufacturing. The company pledged to strengthen its industrial presence in major global markets and to push the automotive sector's transition toward innovation, electrification and sustainability. 

To date, BYD operates six overseas plants -- Brazil, Thailand, Hungary, Uzbekistan, Malaysia and Cambodia -- and its global footprint keeps widening. In Brazil, the Chinese maker has delivered more than 170,000 vehicles in less than three years. In September 2025, BYD's car sales in Brazil surpassed 10,000 units, and cumulative sales from January to September exceeded 77,000 units, the company said.

Global Times