Chinese top electric vehicle (EV) maker BYD [002594:CH] signed a contract with Thai industrial estate developer WHA Group [WHA:TB] to build a factory for new energy passenger cars in an industrial park run by the developer, as reported by Reuters on September 8. This is BYD’s first wholly invested passenger car factory outside China, among more than 30 other BYD automobile plants worldwide. The plant will start operation in 2024 and produce around 150,000 units of EVs and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) per year, for sales in Thailand or exports to Southeast Asian countries and Europe. Thailand’s Board of Investment (BOI) approved the EV project worth THB17.9bn (USD491.5m) last month, requiring BYD to begin investing within three years.

Thailand aims to be the EV production hub of the ASEAN region and raise the share of EVs in total domestic car sales to 30% by 2030. In February 2022, the Thai government lowered the excise on imported EVs from 8% to 2% and pledged subsidies of between THB70,000 and 150,000 (USD2,150 and 4,625) for each electric passenger car sold in Thailand. Attracted by the incentive measures, top automakers including Mercedes-Benz [DAI:GR], Mitsubishi Motor [7211:JP], and Honda [7267:JP] have announced or considered plans to expand in the Thai EV market, challenging Chinese brands SAIC Motor [600104:CH] and Great Wall Motor [2333:HK] who are currently leading in this market.

Sources:

https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/chinas-byd-set-up-ev-plant-thailand-2022-09-08/

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Automobiles/BYD-to-build-150-000-cars-a-year-in-Thailand

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/09/09/chinese-ev-giant-byd-plans-to-build-a-passenger-car-factory-in-thailand.html

https://home.kpmg/th/en/home/insights/2022/05/th-tax-news-flash-issue-130.html

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Automobiles/Mercedes-Benz-to-build-EVs-in-Thailand-in-first-for-a-major-carmaker