A new big Chinese automotive project in Bulgaria

After the launch in February of the car assembly plant near Lovech, which is a joint-venture between the Bulgarian company Litex Motors and the Chinese Great Wall, a second large Chinese investment project in the field of automotive is about to be implemented in Bulgaria. Chinese BYD Company, a worldwide leader manufacturing electric cars, buses, batteries and LED lighting, and the Bulgarian Bulmineral signed on 11 December a 50:50 joint-venture agreement to build an auto assembly plant. The newly-established company named Auto Group Motors will be located in the small town of Breznik, some 50 km west of the Bulgarian capital Sofia.

It is expected that at the first stage the investment will create 150 jobs, with a tendency to continuously increase the number of employees in the future. The first sample bus is expected to be rolled out in February 2013 and when the plant is operational at full capacity, it will produce 40 to 60 buses a month. The production will be expanded further by making the entire product range of BYD such as batteries and LED lights. This plant will be a step towards further expansion of the Chinese automotive producers outside their domestic market that is currently considered the biggest in the world.

That is yet another positive signal for the development of the Bulgarian car manufacturing sector after the announcement 2 weeks ago of the Ukrainian company “Lviv Bus Plant” (LAZ) that it would start assembling buses and trolleybuses in the town of Gabrovo, in Central Bulgaria. According to the company, the annual assembly capacity of the new plant will be 500 to 800 units, and a total number of more than 600 employees will be hired.