Photos show the Dolphin which will be the first BYD model to be launched in Thailand and the region.
BANGKOK: Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker BYD today announced it would set up a facility in Thailand to start producing 150,000 passenger cars a year from 2024.
BYD announced in a joint statement with Thai industrial developer WHA Group that a purchase agreement had been signed for 96 hectares of land in the eastern province of Rayong for the plant.
The 17.9 billion baht (RM2.2bil) project to produce EVs was approved by Thailand's Board of Investment last month.
Nikkei Asia reported that BYD would start selling its Dolphin model in Thailand by the end of this year, with other EV models to follow. BYD has appointed Rever Automotive Co. to be its local distributor.
China's biggest manufacturer of EVs aims to sell 10,000 units in Thailand and export to South-East Asian and European countries.
Its factory in Thailand will be its latest among more than 30 others in the United States, Brazil, and India. In the past few months, BYD has said it would expand into new overseas markets such as Japan, Cambodia, Denmark, Germany and Israel.
Thailand is a regional autos production and export base for the world's top carmakers, including Toyota and Honda and has recently offered incentives including tax breaks and subsidies to attract EV makers.
