Havana – Cuba, as a gate to the Gulf of Mexico, always bustles with tourism. Recent news from this island country is that it plans to purchase a fleet of fuel cars to support its tourism business development, and place an order for its first 719 vehicles with Chinese leading automaker BYD Co. Ltd. Not only is this Cuba’s first fleet of tourist rental vehicles, but also BYD’s largest vehicle order in the Cuban market. It has been reported that all vehicles in the fleet will be BYD models, namely the sedans Suri, L3 and G6, the SUV S6, and the MPV M6.
“We warmly welcome Chinese brands like BYD coming into Cuba to provide us with reliable products, and also welcome more and more Chinese and foreign friends to come visit Cuba”, stated Mr. Rodrigo Malmierca Díaz, Cuba’s Minister of Foreign Trade and Investment. The Mayor of Shenzhen, Xu Qin, witnessed the project’s signing ceremony during his visit to Havana. He stated that this 719 fuel vehicles procurement project signed today is another milestone in the economic cooperation between Shenzhen and Havana, meaning another Chinese auto brand successfully entering the Cuban market. “We believe that under China’s “going abroad” policy of friendly relationships and support, China and Cuba will further expand cooperation in other areas, and jointly push the Cuban economy forward,” he added.
BYD has made big progress in Cuba since it started developing its market in 2014. The company has successfully made it to the Cuban government procurement catalog and become the second Chinese passenger car supplier in Cuba. In November last year, BYD debuted its F3 sedan and S6 SUV at the Havana International Expo, catching Cuban’s widespread attention and praise. The S6 model even won the Exhibition’s Design Award. Also last year, the Cuban government purchased the first 40 BYD passenger cars. Cuban Government’s orders with BYD have increased substantially this year. At present, all BYD vehicles exported to Cuba will be used to develop tourism in the country, and in the near future, the vehicles will also expand to government official vehicles and the private car market. With this procurement project, BYD plans to build a flawless after-sales service system in Cuba to provide complete vehicular tech support, as well as seek further development of its new energy vehicles.
Most people tend to associate Cuba– the largest of the Caribbean islands – with cigars, but the country is a very popular tourist destination, with more than half of its revenue coming from tourism. It has recently been reported that an increasing number of Chinese tourists are flocking to Cuban beaches, leisure resorts and golf courses, and their visits to this old socialist ally are expected to increase even more. The Cuban Government invests hugely in tourism every year, as with this purchase of the BYD vehicle fleet to be used in car rental services for the tourism industry. With a boom in development opportunities in Cuba, an increasing number of Chinese companies are focusing their attention on the island.
