By Luciana Magalhaes
SAO PAULO, Aug 4 (Reuters) – Chinese automaker BYD is launching its first Brazilian-made plug-in hybrid flex-fuel car on Tuesday after a two-year investment of 100 million reais ($19.6 million), the company’s top executive in the country told Reuters.
The Song Pro Super-Hibrido Flex Fuel, which hits dealerships across Brazil on Wednesday, features a powertrain that can run on electricity, gasoline or ethanol, Senior Vice President Alexandre Baldy said in an interview.
The car’s electric-only range is 60 km (37 miles) for the GL model and 120 km for the higher-end GS version, he added.
Built at BYD’s Camacari plant in northeastern Bahia state, the car also meets the company’s goal of using more than 50% of local parts for all Brazilian-made vehicles by January 2027, Baldy said.
TAILORED FOR BRAZIL
“It’s a highly symbolic project for BYD,” he said. “Co-developed by the research and development teams in Brazil and China, this first-ever collaboration resulted in a project tailored exclusively for the Brazilian market.”
Initially established in Brazil as an assembler of semi-knocked-down vehicles, BYD is shifting to local production to comply with Brazilian regulations and establish the country as a regional export hub.
The company already sources components such as tires locally and plans to build batteries at the Camacari factory, which opened in October 2025, alongside other parts.
Although developed for Brazil, the Song Pro Flex could eventually target other markets, including India, as adoption of ethanol fuels spread, Baldy said.
BYD is investing 5.5 billion reais in the Camacari plant and expects it to produce about 180,000 cars this year. The factory will likely supply about 150,000 of the roughly 200,000 vehicles the company aims to sell in Brazil in 2026, Baldy said.
July was BYD’s strongest month yet in Brazil, with its Dolphin GS topping the retail market with 5,861 units sold, the company said.
Its total sales reached 23,465 vehicles, more than double the 9,680 sold in July last year, ranking it fourth in the country, with a market share of 9.1%.
(Reporting by Luciana Magalhaes. Editing by Mark Potter)
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