比亚迪正在研究是否要在阿根廷生产锂电池，外交部长帕布罗·基尔诺周四在与这家中国电动汽车制造商执行副总裁李星星会面后表示。
BYD is studying whether to manufacture lithium batteries in Argentina, Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno said on Thursday after meeting Stella Li, the Chinese electric vehicle maker’s executive vice-president.
据基尔诺称，该公司正在考察“阿根廷与锂价值链相关的投资机会，尤其是在电池和储能系统的生产领域”。他并未透露比亚迪可能投入多少资金，也未说明工厂可能建在何处。
According to Quirno, the company was looking at “investment opportunities in Argentina linked to the lithium value chain, particularly in the production of batteries and energy storage systems”. He did not say how much BYD might spend or where the factory could go.
这位部长将此次会谈与阿根廷总统哈维尔·米莱的经济议程联系起来，称阿根廷正将自己定位为“面向国内市场和出口项目的一个平台”。基尔诺认为，政府的政策促进了该国的投资和矿业发展。
The minister tied the talks to Argentinian President Javier Milei’s economic agenda, saying Argentina was positioning itself “as a platform for projects aimed at both the domestic market and exports”. Quirno credited the government’s policies with promoting investment and mining in the country.
自去年10月开业以来，比亚迪在阿根廷仅销售进口汽车，尚未宣布在该国进行生产计划。8月份，该公司售出1万辆汽车，其中包括在罗萨里奥销售的Dolphin Mini车型，目前拥有21家经销商，其中大部分位于布宜诺斯艾利斯。
BYD has sold only imported cars in Argentina since it opened for business in October last year, and it has not announced production plans in the country. It sold 10,000 vehicles in August, including a Dolphin Mini in Rosario, and now has 21 dealerships, most of them in Buenos Aires.
据《南华早报》当时报道，比亚迪阿根廷子公司BYD Auto Argentina SAU于去年8月向司法部注册时，其企业经营范围已包括制造汽车、电池和汽车零部件。
The company’s local subsidiary, BYD Auto Argentina SAU,ed with the Justice Ministry in August last year with a corporate purpose that already included making vehicles, batteries and auto parts, the South China Morning Post reported at the time.
负责阿根廷业务的克里斯蒂安·基梅尔曼表示，目前建厂计划尚未提上议程。
Christian Kimelman, who runs the Argentine operation, said a car factory was not on the table for now.
“这不在计划之内，但任何了解阿根廷行业的人都知道，在当前环境下，要引领该行业，就需要有某种朝这个方向发展的愿景，”他今年早些时候对Bloomberg Linea表示。
“It is not in the plans, but anyone who knows the Argentine industry knows that, to lead the sector in the current context, you need to have some kind of vision in that direction,” he told Bloomberg Linea earlier this year.
基梅尔曼称，比亚迪供应给阿根廷和墨西哥的大部分产品将来自其位于巴西巴伊亚州卡马卡里的工厂。
Kimelman said most of BYD’s supply for Argentina and Mexico would come from its factory in Camacari, in the Brazilian state of Bahia.
该工厂于去年10月投产，年产能达15万辆汽车。3月份，李星星表示，该工厂已收到两国各5万辆汽车的订单。
The plant opened in October last year with capacity for 150,000 vehicles a year, and in March Li said it had orders for 50,000 cars from each country.
根据南共市两个成员国之间的汽车协议，巴西生产的汽车可以基本免税进入阿根廷。来自该集团外国家的车辆需缴纳35%的关税，但其中5万辆的配额由中国品牌占据主导。
Cars made in Brazil can enter Argentina largely duty-free under the automotive agreement between the two Mercosur members. Vehicles from outside the bloc pay a 35 per cent tariff, except for a quota of 50,000 units that Chinese brands have dominated.
比亚迪也一直使用自己的船只从中国运输汽车。今年1月，比亚迪常州工厂在扎拉特港卸下超过5000辆汽车。据进口商协会称，该公司今年上半年在阿根廷销售了9266辆汽车。
BYD has also kept shipping cars from China on its own vessels, and in January the BYD Changzhou unloaded more than 5,000 vehicles at the port of Zarate. The companyed 9,266 cars in Argentina in the first half of the year, according to the importers’ chamber.
阿根廷的锂矿投资项目将延续比亚迪在智利失败的尝试。此前，比亚迪计划在安托法加斯塔建设一座投资2.9亿美元的阴极材料工厂。
A lithium venture in Argentina would follow BYD’s failed attempt in Chile, where it planned a US$290 million cathode plant in Antofagasta.
该工厂原本计划每年生产5万吨磷酸铁锂阴极材料，并使用SQM公司提供的优惠价格锂原料。
The factory was meant to make 50,000 tonnes a year of lithium iron phosphate cathode material, using lithium from SQM at a preferential price.
然而，比亚迪以及智利发展机构Corfo为该计划挑选的另一家中国企业——青山集团，都在去年5月退出了该项目。当时，Corfo将项目失败归咎于锂价暴跌。
But BYD and Tsingshan, the other Chinese company Chile’s development agency, Corfo, picked for the scheme, both pulled out in May last year. At that time, Corfo blamed the collapse in lithium prices.