Anticipating more electric vehicles in the Caribbean, ATL Automotive has struck a deal with Chinese EV car maker BYD to be the master dealer for the brand in Jamaica and nine other Caribbean countries.

The deal was brokered after an 18-month tender process, evaluating whether the two brands would make a good fit.

ATL  Automotive will take direct control of the sales and aftersales of BYD in Jamaica and play a regional management role in an additional nine other countries namely: Trinidad and Tobago, Cayman, Curaçao, Barbados, Aruba, Antigua, Saint Lucia, Guyana and Suriname. 

The plan now is to build out BYD showrooms beginning with two in Jamaica, one in Kingston, the other in Montego Bay. The Kingston showroom will be located behind the AC Marriott Hotel.

Speaking at the launch event at the AC Marriott Hotel in Kingston today (June 26), ATL Automotive Group executive chairman Adam Stewart said: “As we look to the future with the world increasingly embracing electric vehicles we wanted to partner with the best electric vehicle maker, which is BYD.

“The world is moving in the direction of clean energy. Electrification is here and it is here to stay. It is something brand by brand, vehicle manufacturers are now doing. For me it is a privilege to show that a Jamaican enterprise can implement, manage, lead and compete with anyone across the world. We will be starting to take pre-orders immediately and be supplying cars by October. Then there will be a massive roll out of showrooms across the Caribbean. In China they build showrooms in months so we will try to keep up with that in the Caribbean. It is important that the people of the Caribbean are educated about electric vehicles. The future is electric and BYD will be Jamaica’s and the Caribbean’s number one EV brand.

Neva Zhang, country manager of Caribbean and Central American countries at BYD, said:  “It is the right decision to reach a strategic cooperation with ATL Automotive Group. Sustainability is integral to our brand’s philosophy. Our goal is to protect our planet and  benefit future generations through green technologies, to help cool the Earth by 1°C. This is  also BYD’s brand vision. In the coming year, together with ATL, we will complete the construction of 10 showrooms and offer better user experiences, promoting sustainable  mobility in the region.” 

Zhang added that BYD manufacturers a range of models including passenger cars, buses, and trucks. The Guangdong-headquartered BYD also produces energy storage systems and solar panels, which are used in  residential, commercial, and utility-scale applications. 

ATL Automotive was formed in 1997 as the authorised car distributor for Honda in Jamaica. It began operations with a staff of 60, which today, has grown to 600. In 2009, it added Volkswagen and Audi to its vehicle brand portfolio. In 2015, ATL went on to become the master car dealer for BMW and Mini in the Caribbean. Out of Jamaica, it runs two offices which manages 11 markets across the Caribbean for BMW and Mini. It later added Kia to its portfolio of vehicle brands.

“We are now the largest investor in the automotive landscape in Jamaica since 2010. Our facilities, aftersales and team has taken the automative business to the next level. Not too long ago, you would go to a dealership and it didn’t have what you want, it didn’t have the expertise to keep your car on the road. ATL Automotive now encompasses several divisions exclusively  distributing the world’s finest automobile brands, from state-of-the-art showrooms and  service facilities in Kingston and Montego Bay, strengthening its undisputed position as  the country’s foremost automotive group and changing the face of motoring in Jamaica forever.”

Addressing this new partnership with BYD, Stewart added: “Aside from our hands on role in Jamaica, we’ll be creating a comprehensive dealer network,  comprising some of the best automotive dealers in the Caribbean, and supporting them with  a complete range of services including regional sales and aftersales support, creative marketing or comprehensive training programs, our mandate is to launch and drive BYD  throughout the region. It is so refreshing that the DNA of BYD align so perfectly with ours at  ATL. Their steadfast commitment to investment, future ambitions and proactive  environmental preservation makes it a match made in heaven as far as we’re concerned.”