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China's BYD car company is on a hot streak. Last year's sales topped $100 billion. That beat Tesla's global sales. To keep up that stunning growth, the world's largest electric automaker is diving into emerging markets. Analysts say that's a smart move, as President Trump's tariffs and EU trade tensions increasingly close China off from the U.S. and European markets. And south of the border, especially in Brazil, BYD cars are selling big. But as NPR's Carrie Kahn reports, BYD is hitting some speed bumps as well.
CARRIE KAHN, BYLINE: Chinese car sales in Brazil are soaring, with BYD's electric autos leading the way. More than 76,000 sold last year, four times more than the previous year. Driver Edmilson Pita is hooked. He's a local police officer by day and Uber driver on nights and weekends.
AUTOMATED VOICE: (Speaking Portuguese).
KAHN: As he follows a driving app through northern Bahia state's capital, Salvador, Pita says he saves so much on gas. He has a hybrid King sedan. On sale now in Salvador, the King runs about 28- to $29,000. BYD, whose slogan is build your dreams, has a financing deal with Uber, saving Pita there too.
EDMILSON PITA: (Speaking Portuguese).
KAHN: "It's taking over. And once the new BYD plant opens in Bahia, it will totally dominate," he says. Pita is talking about BYD's nearly billion-dollar manufacturing complex under construction just 30 miles north in the city of Camacari. It's key to China's push into Latin America and the global south. BYD says it's planning to put plants in Mexico, Hungary and Turkey, too. The new factory in Camacari is huge.
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KAHN: When up and running, Chinese officials say it will employ 20,000 workers, building not only cars, but electric batteries, solar panels and green hydrogen. And in an irony lost on few, the plant is located on Henry Ford Avenue, in the U.S. car manufacturer's old plant, shuttered four years ago when Ford left Brazil. The symbolism is evocative, says Ryan Berg of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C.
RYAN BERG: It's a message of, we're the future, and Ford was the past; that China is a stable and reliable trade partner, and the Americans are sometimes not.
KAHN: Berg studies China's growing influence in Latin America, which is shifting from just building roads and bridges to investing in critical industries. Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva personally lobbied for the new plant.
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KAHN: BYD declined requests for a factory visit, citing safety concerns during construction, but there wasn't much traffic through its main gate recently. Construction has slowed since Brazilian officials say they were tipped off to, quote, "slave-like working conditions" by the company.
ROGERIO PAIVA: (Speaking Portuguese).
KAHN: "The workers were victims of international trafficking for the purpose of slave labor," says Rogerio Paiva, a press adviser at Bahia's labor prosecutor's office. He says hundreds of Chinese workers were housed in overcrowded, unsanitary dwellings and many had their passports taken away. BYD says it has fired its Chinese employment firm and is in talks with prosecutors to care for the workers. But negotiations are limping along, no fines have been levied and the opening date for the plant has been pushed to the end of the year. Julio Bonfim is with Camacari's metalworkers' union.
JULIO BONFIM: (Speaking Portuguese).
KAHN: He's made it clear to BYD that the union will not permit a large Chinese workforce at the plant and is prepared to call work stoppages if locals aren't dominating the production line. He says he was surprised so many Chinese were brought into Brazil. Despite the tough talk, BYD has yet to finalize a collective bargaining contract. Questions submitted to BYD by NPR were not answered. Locals aren't worrying about future conditions, though. They want jobs now, especially the former Ford workers.
KLEITON ALDER: (Speaking Portuguese).
KAHN: Kleiton Alder worked at Ford for 18 years. He met his wife on the line, too, and both were laid off when the company left. They pooled their severance pay and moved 30 miles up the coast to build this rustic, six-room hostel.
ALDER: (Speaking Portuguese).
KAHN: "We have Wi-Fi, too, for those who want to stay connected," he says, showing off one of the rooms.
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KAHN: He's hoping for one of BYD's new jobs.
ALDER: (Speaking Portuguese).
KAHN: "We're going to do everything we can to produce for the company," he says. He knows about the accusations of slave labor and rumored culture clashes working for the Chinese, but he's not worried.
ALDER: (Speaking Portuguese).
KAHN: "I'm sure we will all come to an understanding," he says. And he's very much ready to get back on the line and back to work.
Carrie Kahn, NPR News, Camacari, Brazil.
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