The BYD car plant for hybrid and electric vehicles in the Jizzakh province is scheduled to open in June this year, the Ministry of Investment, Industry and Trade said.

In January, president Shavkat Mirziyoyev and BYD president Wang Chuanfu launched a to assemble electric and hybrid vehicles unit project in Jizzakh province with annual capacity of 50 thousand cars. The plant will be hosted at the Jizzakh free economic zone.

In March, BYD executive Ivan Cao said that efforts were underway to install and set up the production line. As per the plan, mass delivery of locally produced vehicles powered by new energy sources is duw in the Q3 of this year.

At the first stage, the plant capacity will be at 50 thousand cars. He underscored that at this stage three were to be manfactured.

The press service of Uzavtosanoat clarified that the car plant sought to produce the BYD Chazor and BYD Song Plus Dm-1 models using small-knot assembly (CKD).

In addition, the localization degree of will gradually increase as the number of electric vehicles produced increases.

Uzavtosanoat and the Chinese BYD Auto agreed to laucnh full-cycle cars in Uzbekistan back in August 2022. Prior to this, the parties conducted a study of the Uzbek car market.

On December 29, 2022, Uzavtosanoat (60% share) and BYD Europe B.V. (Netherlands, 40%) set up a joint venture, BYD Uzbekistan Factory. On September 26, 2023, an agreement on the implementation of the project was signed between the government of Uzbekistan and the investor. The BYD brand has been officially represented in Uzbekistan since the beginning of 2023.

As previously reported, BYD had requested the Uzbek government restrict limit “disorderly” imports of electric and hybrid vehicles “for privately imported models are not adapted to the local climate and road conditions, and also do not have an official guarantee”.

The president instructed the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Ministry of Investment, Industry and Trade and the Uzavtosanoat company to submit to the Cabinet of Ministers, by July 1, proposals to execute the investor’s request to regulate the import of electric and hybrid cars under the BYD brand in line with the legislation, including competition laws, as well as the principles of the World Trade Organization.

In 2023, 8,948 BYD cars were imported to Uzbekistan worth over $291 million.