BYD campaigns among Stellantis managers to win in Europe

China's BYD is very serious about its plans to expand into the European electric vehicle market. This is evidenced by the high-level acquisition campaign that its vice-president Stella Li is carrying out. According to well-informed sources, the new recruit is Maria Grazia Davino, former head of Stellantis in the UK. Davino resigned on 18 October and is expected to take over several European countries once her garden leave period ends in December.

Davino's joining BYD marks the third move of a senior executive from Stellantis to the Shenzhen giant in a matter of weeks. Davino, known for its support of subsidies for electric vehicles in the UK, had also threatened the closure of Stellantis plants if the UK government did not provide reduced targets or incentives for consumers.

While other Chinese manufacturers are slowing down, BYD continues to grow in the European market, +19% in August alone, despite falling demand and EU duties on imports from China. But these percentages refer to volumes that are still small (they may not be for long, giventhe speed with which this group has established itself in China and has 35% of the local market): from 15 thousand cars sold in the mainland after the first six months of 2023 to over 31 thousand this year. To understand the size: Volkswagen in the first half of this year sold 706 thousand cars in Europe, Toyota, growing in double figures thanks to hybrids, almost half a million. BYD, in any case, is localising European production, with new plants in Hungary and Turkey (1 billion investment, will avoid the problem of duties thanks to the Customs Union agreement between Ankara and Brussels) to strengthen its presence in the region.

No comment from BYD regarding recruitment plans. Davino did not respond to a request for comment sent via LinkedIn. For its part, Stellantis said it does not comment on the personal decisions of its employees, but pointed out that it has a 'large global automotive talent pool'.

Other familiar faces from Stellantis are also moving to BYD: Alessandro Grosso, former vice president of sales for Italy at Stellantis, is now responsible (obviously) for the Italian market. Alberto De Aza, former managing director of the Peugeot brand for Spain and Portugal, was chosen to lead operations (not surprisingly) on the Iberian peninsula. Grosso, De Aza and Davino were all at Fiat Chrysler (FCA), which merged with PSA in January 2021 to create Stellantis.