BYD Recalls 183,211 Cars as Europe Factory Blueprint and Carrier Fleet Take Shape

BYD recalls 183,211 Qin and Tang vehicles built 2014-2022 over brake pedal pads, while first-half overseas revenue reached 52.57% of turnover.

BYD is pulling 183,211 Qin and Tang vehicles off Chinese roads, a callback covering units built between 2014 and 2022. The country's market regulator flagged defective stopper pads on the brake pedal that can crack or detach. It ranks among the largest recalls in the automaker's recent history, though it touches only legacy production — the affected Qin and Tang lines stopped rolling in 2022.

The company has yet to attach a price tag to the campaign. What is already clear is the sheer volume: more than 180,000 vehicles will occupy workshop bays and generate costs, a burden on brand perception in a market where trust in electric vehicles is fought over hard. Recalls of this scale are hardly rare in China, but the timing lands awkwardly.

A Second European Plant, and a Fleet to Fill It

BYD is simultaneously pushing hard on overseas expansion. A former Fiat-Chrysler executive advising the company in Europe said at an event in Turin that the carmaker ultimately intends to build four plants on the continent — three vehicle assembly sites and one battery factory for electric cars. Spain and France are reportedly the leading candidates for a second European facility, with the purchase of existing factories favored over greenfield construction; a decision is expected by year-end.

Feeding those ambitions requires ships. BYD has ordered ten additional car carriers, each capable of moving 9,200 vehicle equivalents, according to shipping trade reports. That would lift its fleet to 18 vessels with combined capacity exceeding 130,000 vehicles. China Merchants Industry is building them at the Jinling and Haimen yards, with deliveries scheduled between 2027 and 2029.

Poland, meanwhile, will host the launch of BYD's premium Denza brand, with four showrooms planned by year-end and the first fast-charging stations — rated at up to one megawatt — arriving from November. In Indonesia, the new Subang plant already captured a 43.2 percent share of the country's electric vehicle market in the first half.

Overseas Revenue Overtakes the Home Market

Those investments sit atop a strategic shift already visible in the interim figures. In the first half of 2026, foreign revenue surpassed half of group turnover for the first time, reaching 52.57 percent. Overseas sales of new energy vehicles climbed 68 percent to 790,000 units, spanning more than 120 countries. For 2027, BYD has set a target of more than 2.5 million vehicles sold abroad — a marked acceleration aimed at sidestepping the brutal price war at home.

That domestic battle left its mark on profitability. First-half revenue fell 7.13 percent to 344.82 billion yuan, while net profit attributable to shareholders tumbled 20.54 percent to 12.33 billion yuan. Chairman Wang Chuanfu pinned much of the blame on bottlenecks in the second generation of the "Blade Battery," whose output is still ramping up. "This year's sales depend on battery production," he said.

The board also skipped an interim dividend — a move consistent with a capital-hungry expansion drive in which plant construction and fleet building take precedence over payouts. One bright spot: the higher-priced Denza, Fang Cheng Bao and Yangwang brands collectively grew 61 percent, lifting their share of group passenger vehicle sales to 12.8 percent. BYD is inching upmarket out of the thin-margin mass segment while new overseas capacity comes online.

Shares Stay Under the Weather

The equity has yet to reflect any of this with optimism. At EUR 9.03, the stock trades roughly 12 percent below its 200-day moving average of EUR 10.32 — a signal that the medium-term downtrend holds. It sits 28 percent beneath its 52-week high of EUR 12.49, touched early last October.

Year-to-date the shares have shed 16 percent, and over twelve months the decline reaches 27 percent. Back home, the macro picture offers little relief: China's August retail sales grew just 0.4 percent year-on-year, missing the 0.8 percent consensus, while industrial output rose 5.2 percent but fixed-asset investment fell 7.2 percent between January and August. For BYD investors, the recall is one more weight in an already heavy environment — and whether it leaves a mark on coming quarterly results will only become clear once the company puts a number on the fix.