The two models, Song and Yuan, will be imported until operations begin at BYD's new plant in the northeastern state of Bahia.

(Image credit: BYD)

BYD launched two SUV models to Brazil on Wednesday -- the hybrid Song and the all-electric Yuan -- both of which will go on sale there this month, both priced at 269,990 Brazilian reais ($50,540).

Both models will be imported until operations begin at BYD's new plant in the northeastern state of Bahia.

In October, BYD signed a letter of intent with the Bahia state government to establish car production in the industrial area left by Ford when it closed its factory outside the capital Salvador, according to a Reuters report on Thursday.

The Bahia state government said BYD would build electric bus and truck chassis, as well as electric and hybrid cars, at three plants with an investment of 3 billion reais ($550 million), and would also process Brazilian lithium for vehicle batteries for export to China.

The Bahia state government said at the time that two of the plants would go into operation in 2024 and the third in 2025.

BYD expects that 10 percent of all car sales in Brazil will be electric and hybrid models by 2025, up from 2.4 percent today, and that the market share of electric vehicles could jump to 30 percent by 2030, according to Reuters.

"We have been in Brazil for almost 10 years. We have experienced many political changes in this period, in addition to exchange rate fluctuations, and inflation. But I think that in the long term, Brazil has its own advantages," said BYD Americas President Stella Li.

She cited the size of the Brazilian market, the availability of raw materials for batteries such as lithium, and a new government that appears to be more open to encouraging the industry.

On October 26, BYD announced that it had entered into a partnership with Saga Group, the largest local dealership group, in Brazil and opened its first partner store, BYD Saga Brasília, in the country's capital, Brasilia, bringing the number of BYD's offline dealership stores in the country to 10.

BYD's presence in Brazil is expected to expand to 45 cities by the end of this year, with 100 stores established by the end of 2023, the company said at the time.

In Brazil, BYD has previously launched models including the Tang EV, Han EV and D1.

On October 19, BYD announced that it had entered into a strategic partnership with Santander Bank in Brazil in order to provide automotive financial services to local consumers.