Brazilian Authorities Are Investigating BYD Over Reports of Slavery

by Chris Teague

Published: December 30th, 2024

brazilian authorities are investigating byd over reports of slavery

Chinese industry is no stranger to slavery and forced labor allegations, but the reports are usually about workers within the country. China’s BYD, its largest EV manufacturer, is breaking that trend with reports that workers building its new factory in Brazil were kept in “slavery-like” conditions, leading the South American country to stop issuing temporary work visas for the company’s employees.

Brazilian authorities said they had located 163 Chinese workers brought to the country and held in “slavery-like conditions.” Jinjiang Group, a BYD contractor, is their employer and denied any illegal activities, though the government said it had identified the workers as victims of human trafficking.

BYD has invested $620 million in the factory, located in Bahia, in northeast Brazil. The country is an important region for the automaker, which is expanding rapidly into global markets. The Chinese company plans to kick off production in Brazil next year and said it is targeting an annual output of 150,000 cars.

Jinjiang Group said the Brazilian authorities’ portrayal of the situation as slavery was inaccurate and noted that there was some misunderstanding due to translation issues. Even so, Brazil’s Ministry of Justice said it would investigate and, if the reports are confirmed, revoke the residence permits issued to the workers. In the meantime, BYD and Jinjiang have agreed to house the workers in hotels until the end of their contracts.

[Images: BYD]

Become a TTAC insider. Get the latest news, features, TTAC takes, and everything else that gets to the truth about cars first by subscribing to our newsletter.

#BYD #Brazil #evfactories #slavery

Chris Teague

Chris grew up in, under, and around cars, but took the long way around to becoming an automotive writer. After a career in technology consulting and a trip through business school, Chris began writing about the automotive industry as a way to reconnect with his passion and get behind the wheel of a new car every week. He focuses on taking complex industry stories and making them digestible by any reader. Just don’t expect him to stay away from high-mileage Porsches.

More by Chris Teague

Comments

Join the conversation

4 of 12 comments

Slavuta on Dec 31, 2024

"Chinese industry is no stranger to slavery and forced labor allegations" -- the key word here is allegations

Like Reply
- See 1 previous
- Kjhkjlhkjhkljh kljhjkhjklhkjh on Jan 01, 2025
  
  you dont need to traffic kids anymore, we have our own slaves we keep at a 6th grade reading level, teach nothing but lies and indoctrinate to a mythical zombie hippie and then tell them it is ok to have 2000 dollar rent for 900 sqft and a 800/month car payment and a health care system so evil that it takes assassinations to even register as a news item.
  
  Like
- Slavuta on Jan 01, 2025
  
  KJ, can't disagree with that. Still, criminal rulers use all avenues, all available profit centers.
  
  Like
Slavuta on Dec 31, 2024

Brazil could think about their favela issues -- "Brazil has 16.390 million people living in favelas countrywide..." in 2024. I guess, the good about it, children who don't go to school and play soccer all day long, they become great players. Those who don't - become gangsters

Like Reply

Recent Comments

Buickman Classic Buzz Kill
Lorenzo The 1970s! When mid-size cars of the late 1960s became full size coupes just by getting a couple inches wider, and a foot and a half longer, on the same wheelbase. But the interiors were marvelous, compared to what came before.It's just as well neither of the optional engines were chosen, since the old Cruise-O-Matic was the only transmission option. OTOH, that extra width and length added hundreds of pounds of curb weight, adding to the sluggish performance. Having lived through the 1970s, I could not understand why cars were getting bigger, while engines were becoming less powerful (and not just because of the switch to net horsepower) while gasoline prices were going up, and octane ratings were going down.Then again, you would be hard pressed to find interiors with such luxury touches today, especially color choices. This is a good example of a lot of sheet metal moving slowly while the driver sits in the lap of luxury, later to be rendered junkyard fodder when parking spaces everywhere were downsized.
Redapple2 flawed product. from the jump
Parkave231 The shot of the climate controls (well, the whole interior, really) brought back memories of my dad's '74 Ranchero 500. Little five-year-old me couldn't comprehend why there was a place for a rear window switch...and yet the rear window in dad's Ranchero didn't go down.
Arthur Dailey This appears to be a base model. If you check the link provided to the gold coloured Gran Torino Elite you will see the upgraded interior and vastly upgraded instrument panel with full instrumentation. Someone purchasing the higher end version of the Gran Torino Elite would get the same interior and instrumentation as a Mercury Cougar but at a much lower price point. And for a few hundred dollars more you could upgrade your Gran Torinto Elite to the 460 cid engine fitted into T-Birds and Lincoln Marks. Provding 218 hp in a much smaller and lighter vehicle. Of all the PLC's that I owned/leased/drove in the 1970's the Gran Torino Elite seemed to have the most 'get up and go'. And I had PLCs from all of the domestic Big 3, always with the largest possible engine displacement.The Gran Torino Elite seemed to be most popular in Ford brown. A very common colour on Ford cars of that era. With the brown interior and matching vinyl roof. Thanks Murilee for documenting a vehicle which was quite popular and well regarded in its era, but which is now largely forgotten. I wonder how many are left in a road worthy condition?