On the streets of Rio de Janeiro, it’s not hard to spot the latest sign of China’s growing global auto ambitions. Electric vehicles from Chinese brands like BYD and Great Wall Motor have been flowing in.
“There are a lot of Chinese cars on the streets,” said EV owner Sérgio Ramalho.
Brazil has become the newest frontier for China’s electric vehicle boom. The country imported about 138,000 electric and hybrid vehicles from China in 2024, nearly 100,000 more than the year before, according to Brazilian customs data.
Chinese automakers, who are blocked from the U.S. market, have turned their focus toward emerging economies.
“Chinese EV makers are facing a lot of pressure within China,” said Ilaria Mazzocco, deputy director at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “They’ve been going abroad in a very big way.”
Brazil is South America’s largest car market and, like other countries, Chinese companies in the market are competing head-to-head with long-established brands. In early 2025, Chinese models captured more than 80% of all EV sales, according to Brazil’s Electric Vehicle Association.
Affordability has been a major draw. BYD’s Dolphin Mini, one of the country’s top-selling electric cars, starts at about 119,900 reais or $22,000, around $7,000 less than General Motors‘ cheapest comparable model in Brazil.
“We’ve seen the arrival of Chinese vehicles here in a very large quantity,” said Gustavo Tannure, CEO of charging-network startup EZVolt. “Demand for charging is very high.”
After Brazil dropped its 35% import tariff on EVs in 2015, BYD moved quickly to expand locally. The company first entered the country in 2015 producing electric buses and now operates what it calls one of Latin America’s largest EV plants in the northeastern state of Bahia. Built on the site of a shuttered Ford facility, the 4.6-million-square-meter complex is expected to produce up to 300,000 cars a year.
“Brazil is the largest automotive market in Latin America,” Mazzocco said. “If you want to sell in Brazil, there’s a strong incentive to produce in Brazil.”
Other Chinese automakers are following suit. Great Wall Motor began producing vehicles near São Paulo this year after acquiring a former Mercedes-Benz factory.
The rapid influx has raised alarms among labor groups.
“It could lead to a huge number of vehicles arriving from China, threatening our jobs and production in Brazil,” said Wellington Damasceno, executive director of the ABC Metalworkers’ Union.
Brazil’s government has since moved to re-impose import duties. Tariffs on foreign EVs began returning in 2024 and are scheduled to reach 35% by 2026.
BYD has also faced scrutiny over reports of poor conditions for some construction workers at its new Bahia plant. The company said it maintains “zero tolerance for violations of human rights and labor laws” and cut ties with the contractor involved.
Despite controversy, Chinese automakers continue investing heavily.
“The strategy really seems to be: Be the first company that starts selling EVs in new markets. Create the market,” Mazzocco said. “It’s very long-term thinking — and it’s changing markets on the ground in several emerging economies.”
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