Thailand’s Board of Investment (BoI) has officially announced that Chery will build a factory in the kingdom for both domestic consumption and export. Production will begin in 2025 and the factory is forecast to launch 50,000 electric and hybrid vehicles in the same year before production reaches 80,000 units per year by 2028.
This was announced by BoI Secretary-General Narit Therdsteerasukdi, who also said that Wuhu-based Chery will be the eighth automaker from China to set up a production facility in Thailand, joining names such as BYD, Great Wall Motor and Changan among others.
Accordingly ReutersThe ASEAN Automobile Hub’s subsidies and tax incentives for electric vehicles have attracted a wave of investment from China, with automakers pledging investments worth more than US$1.44 billion (RM6.88 billion). Thailand aims to convert about a third of its annual production of 2.5 million vehicles to electric vehicles by 2030.
Last month, it was reported that Chery subsidiary Omoda & Jaecoo Thailand was planning a new electric vehicle factory in Rayong, Thailand. Accordingly Bangkok PostProduction is scheduled to start in 2025 and the factory will initially produce cars for the domestic and ASEAN markets. Chery has plans to make Rayong a global export base, supplying Oceania and the Middle East.
“We plan to divide our production into two phases. In the first phase, starting in 2025, the annual production capacity will be 50,000 units. The number will rise to 80,000 units per year by 2028,” said Qi Jie, deputy general manager for South Asia at Chery International.
“Our BEVs will account for 70% of total car production, the remaining 30% belong to the PHEV category,” Qi said, adding that he believes Thailand has great potential to develop an electric vehicle industry thanks to the government’s EV3.5 program has. EV3.5 is Thailand’s electric vehicle incentive program, which includes subsidies and a reduction in import duties and excise taxes to encourage the production and purchase of electric vehicles from 2024 to 2027.
For now, O&J’s cars will be CBU-imported from China and will be the sales target for the Omoda C5 EV (Chery Omoda E5 in Malaysia) and the Jaecoo 7 plug-in hybrid (Jaecoo J7 will be launched in Malaysia soon, albeit as pure ICE model). ) is 6,000 units this year. The company plans to set up 35 showrooms in the Land of Smiles, including 20 in the capital Bangkok.
What does this mean for Malaysia? While Chery has CKD operations in our country, capacity at Inokom in Kulim, Kedah is somewhat limited as the facility is shared with other brands. If demand increases, could Chery Malaysia source some models from across the border to expand its range?
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