BANGKOK: Chery Automobile, an electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer from China, was recently granted promotional privileges to establish a production facility in Thailand by the Thailand Board of Investment (BOI).
Chery is the 8th EV maker from China to be approved following BYD, MG, Great Wall Motor, Changan Automobile, GAC Aion, NETA and Foton, Narit Therdsteerasukdi, BOI secretary-general, said on Monday (April 22).
The company, which exported 1.8 million units last year, aims to use Thailand as a production base to meet the domestic demand for right-hand drive EVs, as well as export the vehicles to Asean, Australia and the Middle East.
In the first phase, Chery will establish a factory in Rayong province before the end of 2025 to produce both battery EV (BEV) and hybrid EV (HEV) vehicles at a rate of 50,000 units per year, he said.
In the second phase, the production capacity will be expanded to 80,000 units per year by 2028. The company did not unveil the total investment value.
Narit added that Chery’s EV will be marketed in Thailand under the names Omoda and Jaecoo, the company’s sub brands for foreign markets.
Chery will also import the Omoda C5, the company’s first electric SUV coupe model to spearhead the Thai market around June this year at its brand-new 39 showrooms nationwide. More models of off-road EVs will follow, including the Jaecoo 6, 7, and 8, the latter two plug-in hybrid EVs.
Narit said the BOI has so far approved 26 investment projects related to manufacturing and assembly of electric vehicles from 19 companies, with total investment value of over 80 billion baht.
“The BOI is committed to the government’s policy of making Thailand a manufacturing hub of EVs in the region under the 30@30 target, with zero-emission vehicles making up 30% of total automotive production by the year 2030,” he said.
The 30@30 target translates into 725,000 electric cars and 675,000 electric motorcycles per year. — The Nation/ANN
