BANGKOK – China’s imported electric vehicles ( EVs ) are severely depressing Thai car sales, leading Chinese manufacturers to invest more than a billion dollars to build their own electric vehicles close to Bangkok to increase domestic sales and bolster exports.
Thailand makes a strong case for its long-established car manufacturing sector as” The Detroit of Asia.” Toyota, Isuzu, Mitsubishi, Honda, Ford and other companies dominate a swelling home business for conventional internal combustion vehicles fueled by gas, gasoline or LPG.
Thailand is Southeast Asia’s biggest producer of those cars, rolling out 2.5 million annually.
As China expands its facilities in Thailand to build EVs and trade them across the region, those numbers are anticipated to increase.
If the US, Europe and elsewhere maintain strict limits limiting goods of” Made in China” cars, potential Chinese cars” Made in Thailand” could provide an alternative market entry level.
China’s great EV advantage is its east southern port Shenzhen, from where Foreign EV manufacturers can access difficult precision sensors, computer chips, batteries and other higher- tech hardware and components.
Now, China’s BYD, which produces most of the world’s EVs, and Great Wall Motor have reportedly agreed to spend US$ 1.4 billion in new EV production and assembly facilities in Thailand.
By displaying a$ 24, 000 Dolphin EV, which reportedly travels 300 miles on a single battery charge, and a$ 44, 000 Seal, which cruises 360 miles, BYD, or Build Your Dreams, at the Bangkok International Motor Show in March.
China’s Chery Automobile, meanwhile, is also constructing a factory in Thailand to produce vehicles for the domestic market and export.
Chery expects to begin churning out 50, 000 EVs and hybrids in 2025, Thailand’s Board of Investment ( BOI ) said on April 22. Chery is China’s third- biggest car maker and is owned by the government.
” EV sales in Thailand reached 76, 314 units in 2023, 7.8 times the previous year”, Tokyo- based Nikkei reported in February.
” BYD ranked first, making up around 40 % of EV sales. Chinese companies accounted for 80 % or so of EV sales, while Japanese brands were at less than 1 %”, Nikkei reported, using statistics from Autolife Thailand.
The Atto 3 SUV is BYD’s most well-liked vehicle in Thailand.
” Agile and fun, BYD Atto 3 provides an engaging driving experience”, BYD boasts on its website. The “positive and vivacious attitude toward life is reflected in the vibrant and streamlined central console.”
According to BYD, driving an Atto 3 SUV with the accelerator reaches 100 mph in 7.3 seconds.
” BYD sold 30, 650 EVs in Thailand last year, followed by 12, 777 sold by Neta– a brand of Chinese electric vehicle maker Hozon Auto which is based in eastern China’s Zhejiang province”, the Associated Press reported.
Tesla, British automaker MG, and Chinese automaker Great Wall Motor led them in this regard. Most of those sales were imported EVs, however.
Much of the new investment to boost Thailand’s EV sector is being funneled into constructing custom- built, high- tech facilities and assembly line infrastructure.
Great Wall Motor purchased a former General Motors plant in Rayong, east of Bangkok, as a base for its expansion into Southeast Asia, according to AP.
Neta hopes to produce 20, 000 EVs a year in Thailand.
In 2023,” BYD announced that it would construct a passenger electric vehicle factory outside of China” in Rayong province in eastern Thailand.
That same year,” China’s Changan Automobile announced that it would invest ($ 270 million ) in an EV plant in Thailand”.
Chinese investors were recently welcomed by Thai government officials at the prestigious Smart Park Industrial Estate in the Map Ta Phut economic zone of Rayong port in the Gulf of Thailand.
” Svolt Energy Technology, a Chinese manufacturer of batteries and energy storage systems, is spending ($ 34.7 million ) to build an EV battery factory in Thailand’s east to serve both Chinese and Japanese carmakers”, China Global South’s analysis site reported.
In December, Tesla executives toured an industrial state, escorted by Prime Minister and then- Finance Minister Srettha Thavisin.
An extended family who pool their savings and defaults in Thailand frequently purchases vehicles that are strong enough for monsoons, heat, and rural roads.
Some owners complained that electric charging stations are frustratingly difficult to locate outside of Bangkok, but electric vehicles are starting to gain popularity there.
Southeast Asia is prone to floods, which is EV’s nemesis, which may detract from the 600 million plus residents of the Southeast Asia region’s enthusiasm.
EV motorcycles, three- wheel scooters and public buses may prove more popular within cities where recharging, often by swapping batteries at designated centers, is easier and faster.
Since 1978, Richard S. Ehrlich, an American foreign correspondent reporting from Asia and the recipient of Columbia University’s Foreign Correspondents ‘ Award, has been based in Bangkok. Excerpts from his two new nonfiction books,” Rituals. Killers. Wars. &, Sex. — Tibet, India, Nepal, Laos, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka &, New York” and” Apocalyptic Tribes, Smugglers &, Freaks” are available here.