The city of Campinas (in the São Paulo region of Brazil) has been selected as the home to the BYD’s newest factory creating ~450 new local jobs. Executives from Campinas City Hall and BYD Company Ltd. this week announced the opening of the company’s first South American manufacturing facility. The factory is slated to open in 2015 and will launch the manufacturing and assembly of the world’s only long range pure electric transit bus in South America as well as the first fire safe and recyclable Iron-Phosphate battery packs.

“In the first year of operation (starting in 2015), the plant will have a maximum production capacity of 1,000 electric buses as well as all of their batteries,” said BYD Brazil’s General Manager Tyler Li. “This is the first stage of manufacturing expansion.”

BYD Founder and Chairman, Mr. Wang Chuanfu stated, "BYD chose Campinas because of this city’s spirit of innovation and their goal of building a cleaner society. Along with the buses and batteries, our dream is to build solar panels and energy storage systems here to help the region achieve their zero emissions goals.”

In addition to the 32,000m2 and 20,000m2 manufacturing facilities on campus, BYD also plans to open a Research & Development center for their PV, Smart-Grid and LED Lighting businesses in the second phase of site development. The Mayor of Campinas, Jonas Donizette pointed out, "BYD fits very well in our City’s quest to attract investments, it is a company that produces goods and technologies related to the use of renewable energies, and also operates in key segments for the future of cities with sustainable urban mobility plans.”

This sentiment was echoed by many, including the President of Invest Saint Paul, Luciano Almeida, “In February of this year, we visited BYD in China and observed cutting edge technology and the quality of their products. The arrival of BYD in the State strengthens the role of St. Paul to always be at the forefront of new technologies.”