BYD hires 8,000 workers in Xi'an to lift export production

BYD began onboarding more than 8,000 factory workers at its Xi'an production hub on Sept. 26, 2026, as manufacturing lines rebounded from retooling to meet surging export demand.

The recruitment drive targets frontline technical staff across five plant areas in Xi'an, including Gaoxin, Caotang, Jixian, Xixian and Pangguan. The municipal hub represents roughly one-quarter of the automaker's total passenger car output.

Assembly line positions offer monthly pay between 5,500 yuan ($780) and 8,000 yuan ($1,135). Skilled technicians in welding, stamping and painting earn up to 10,000 yuan ($1,420) per month, according to notices posted by the Xi'an Human Resources and Social Security Bureau.

New workers joining welding and final assembly shops inside Division 11 receive cash bonuses of up to 6,000 yuan ($850). The division disburses half the bonus after 30 days of service and the remainder after the second month.

The hiring campaign follows a temporary production slowdown in the first half of 2026. BYD retooled assembly lines in Shaanxi province to transition toward its second-generation Blade Battery — an upgraded lithium-iron-phosphate cell architecture with higher energy density.

During the retooling, the automaker temporarily transferred factory labor from Xi'an to sister assembly complexes in Zhengzhou, Hefei and Shenshan. Output dropped across early 2026 following a 9.85% annual decline in 2025 to 968,100 units, data from the Shaanxi Automobile Industry Association show.

Assembly schedules normalized across all four primary industrial parks in Xi'an during the third quarter. Utilization on selected lines has now reached 120%, creating an immediate deficit of assembly and body-shop labor, company recruitment personnel said.

The expanded workforce will serve surging export deliveries as domestic vehicle demand softens. BYD delivered 440,293 new energy vehicles in August 2026, marking a 17.8% gain over the previous year, company filings show.

Overseas shipments accounted for 189,466 units of the August total, climbing 134.45% from a year earlier. Exports constituted 43% of total sales volume during the month, while domestic Chinese retail sales fell 14.34% to 250,800 units.

Xi'an operates as BYD's primary manufacturing center for high-volume plug-in hybrids, including the Qin PLUS DM-i and Song PLUS DM-i. The complex is planned for an annual vehicle capacity of 1.5 million units.

Division 11 at the site also manufactures vehicles for the premium Yangwang, Fangchengbao and Denza brands. Division 2 produces traction battery packs, energy storage hardware and electronic management systems.

In nearby Xixian New Area, BYD is ramping up a 16-gigawatt-hour power battery plant designed to supply roughly 700,000 vehicles annually. The 7 billion yuan ($990 million) project started trial cell production in late 2025.

The municipal notices do not state what portion of the 8,000 new workers will support luxury sub-brands rather than mass-market vehicles. Division personnel said the hiring window has no set closing deadline and will remain active until staffing quotas are filled.