(Yicai) July 16 -- Péter Szijjártó, Hungary’s former foreign minister, has resigned his parliamentary seat to join BYD as the Chinese electric carmaker accelerates its European expansion.

Szijjártó, who was a member of the Hungarian National Assembly from 2002 and held the foreign minister’s portfolio from 2014 until this May, has taken an executive role at BYD responsible for external relations and the development of new business areas, the 47-year-old said on social media yesterday.

“BYD is one of the greatest automotive success stories of the past 20 years and is also the world's leading manufacturer of new energy vehicles,” Szijjártó said.

The automaker began building its first European plant for electric vehicles in the southern Hungarian city of Szeged in 2024. The factory is scheduled to start mass production in the next quarter. Last year, the Shenzhen-based firm said it plans to relocate its regional corporate operations and research and development center from the Netherlands to Budapest.

BYD expects to top the global car production and sales leaderboard by 2030, driven by both its home market and expansion abroad, Chairman Wang Chuanfu said at its annual shareholders' meeting in June, adding that its overseas growth is underpinned by localized production.

The company’s assembly lines in Brazil and Thailand are already operational, while its plant in Indonesia is nearing the start of production.

Editor: Kim Taylor