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BYD will bring the next generation of its big-value BYD Seagull supermini to Europe and the UK, Auto Express can reveal, after the Chinese brand’s executive vice president Stella Li confirmed the plan on the eve of the Beijing Motor Show.
Introducing its most affordable 网页链接{electric car} to Europe is seen as a key step by BYD, which has ambitious plans to achieve at least 10 per cent market share in the region by 2030. It will potentially give the company a useful rival for the next wave of more affordable European-brand EVs, led by the 网页链接{Dacia Spring} but also including the 网页链接{Citroen e-C3} and 网页链接{Volkswagen ID.2}.
Speaking to media ahead of the Beijing show, BYD Company’s Executive Vice President Li said, “Yes, we plan to bring the Seagull to Europe next year. But it’s not the Chinese-market Seagull, it will be a European-market Seagull; a new Seagull. You haven’t seen it yet; even myself, I have not seen it yet.”
The current car is slightly smaller than a typical supermini, at 3.78 metres long. It has a single front-mounted 74bhp motor and comes with a choice of battery capacities, the larger of which (39kWh) delivers up to 252 miles of range under China’s less strenuous official tests. In BYD’s domestic market the car is priced, in base spec, from around £8,000.
It’s likely that the Seagull may grow slightly for its next generation, not least as BYD adjusts its crash structure for the 网页链接{Euro NCAP} safety test – although Li admitted that the cost of adding electronic safety systems to the model may ultimately mean that buyers have to accept a three or four-star score (rather than the full five) in return for a lower price.
Li also ended months of speculation by confirming to Auto Express that the next Seagull will be made in right-hand drive, with an eye on the UK market. We understand it’s likely to reach showrooms here in the final quarter of 2025.
The plan to bring the next Seagull to Europe is part of a wider strategy that will see BYD expanding far beyond its current Chinese manufacturing base. The company is currently setting up a factory in Brazil, and it recently revealed a plan to build a plant in Hungary. Li suggested that further manufacturing facilities will be added quickly, including, potentially, a further European site.
“Before the end of the year, we’re going to announce an additional three or four manufacturing plants, globally,” Li said. “One may be in Mexico, in the centre or south of Mexico, to mainly focus on the Mexican market. The other two will be in different regions. In Europe, maybe one facility is not enough.”
Li said that no decision has yet been taken on where a second European site could be based. When asked directly if, as rumoured earlier this spring, BYD is in talks with the Italian government about setting up a factory there, she replied, “Not yet. There’s a chance it could happen not only in Italy. It could be in Spain, even in Germany, in France; it could be any other country. Once we see the capacity is needed, we’ll go from country to country to evaluate which is the most suitable. But we’re not at that stage yet.”