* The governor of Brazil’s north-eastern state of Bahia, Jerônimo Rodrigues, has announced that the Chinese car manufacturer BYD will acquire a factory in Camaçari, a municipality in the metropolitan region of Bahia’s capital, Salvador. Rodrigues met Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and the global vice president of BYD, Stella Li, to confirm the opening of the factory, which the governor has welcomed as an opportunity to boost local employment and to make Bahia an “international reference for innovation and technology.” The factory was previously owned by the US carmaker Ford but was shut down in 2021. During his state visit to China in April, Lula met BYD’s CEO Wang Chuanfu and discussed the acquisition of the former Ford plant, among other initiatives to boost the electric vehicle industry in Brazil. According to Rodrigues, BYD will hold a launch event in Salvador on 4 July to announce more details about the operational timeline of the Camaçari factory.