It was reported that on August 7, the Thailand Board of Investment (BOI) announced that South Korean automaker Hyundai would invest 1 billion Thai baht (approximately $28 million US) to build an electric vehicle and battery assembly plant in Thailand.
The BOI statement revealed that the investment application from Hyundai had been approved, with the new facility to be located in the southeastern part of Bangkok. According to the plan, the plant will begin to assemble electric vehicles and batteries locally in 2026.
Narit Therdsteerasukdi, Secretary General of the Thailand Board of Investment, stated, “Thailand’s strong existing supply chain will allow Hyundai to source not less than a third of the raw materials and parts it needs from within Thailand, thus supporting the local industry.”
Thailand is ranked as the world’s tenth-largest automotive producer with a mature and stable automotive supply chain. The country has also set a “30/30” strategy, which means to increase the proportion of new energy vehicle production to 30% by 2030.
As a result, leading Chinese companies in electric vehicles and power batteries have shown a growing interest in investing in Thailand over the past two years.
Automotive makers such as BYD, GAC Aion, Great Wall Motors, Chery Automobile, Changan Automobile, Morris Garages, and NETA, along with Chinese top battery manufacturers such as CATL, EVE Energy, Gotion High-Tech, Sunwoda and SVOLT, have all established industrial presences in Thailand.
In the automotive sector, BYD completed construction and commenced production at its Thailand plant on July 4 of this year, with an annual capacity of approximately 150,000 vehicles. GAC Aion’s Thailand plant also started production on July 17, with an initial capacity of 50,000 vehicles per year and plans to gradually expand to 100,000 vehicles per year.
In the battery sector, CATL reached a cooperation agreement with Arun Plus in June 2023, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Petroleum Authority of Thailand (PTT). CATL will provide CTP battery pack production lines and share the technology of CTP battery pack production with Arun Plus.
In July 2023, EVE Energy signed an MOU with the Thailand-based EA Group to jointly establish a battery production base in Thailand with an annual capacity of at least 6 GWh, actively cooperating to expand the electric vehicle and energy storage businesses in Thailand and Southeast Asia markets.
In October 2023, SAIC Group’s Sino-Thai joint venture battery factory commenced operations, with a planned annual capacity of 50,000 units of batteries.
At the end of 2023, Gotion High-Tech’s Thailand factory rolled out its first batch of battery products, with a planned annual capacity of 2 GWh in its first phase, aiming to expand to 8 GWh annually based on market demand.
In February 2024, SVOLT’s Thailand battery plant commenced operations, expected to provide over 20,000 sets of battery packs for local customers this year, meeting the mainstream battery demand for A-class vehicles in Thailand.
Source: WeChat Official Account—CBEA
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