How China's BYD saw its $1bn Turkey EV plant deal unravel

How China's BYD saw its $1bn Turkey EV plant deal unravel Submitted by Ragip Soylu on Wed, 06/10/2026 - 13:46 After a high-profile launch with Erdogan, the promised Chinese electric car factory remains unbuilt and Ankara is weighing penalties against BYD Visitors speak inside a stand of Chinese automaker BYD at the Beijing Auto Show in Beijing on 25 April 2026 (Greg Baker/AFP) Off Once touted as a project that would help make Turkey one of Europe’s centres of electric car production, a 1. 6 million-square-metre plot of land in Manisa has sat idle for the past two years, covered with grass and dirt. When President Recep Tayyip Erdogan appeared before cameras in July 2024 to announce that Ankara had secured a $1bn investment from Chinese EV giant BYD, officials were jubilant.