Changan Automobile’s first electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing plant in Southeast Asia is set to open in Thailand in the first quarter of next year, with a total investment budget exceeding 10 billion baht.
“We expect to start producing battery EVs in March 2025,” said Shen Xinghua, managing director of Changan Auto Southeast Asia, a subsidiary of the Chongqing-based company.
The company will produce right-hand drive EVs for sale in the domestic market, and use the Thai facility as its production base to export left-hand drive EVs, he said.
Changan plans to sell the cars to customers in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the UK.
The company is one of many Chinese EV manufacturers benefiting from government policies to make Thailand a regional EV production hub by offering tax cuts and subsidies to promote production and consumption of EVs in the country.
Changan has increased its investment budget to 10 billion baht, up from 8.86 billion.
The money was spent to build a factory on a 300-rai plot in Rayong as well as develop showrooms and a parts warehouse.
The construction of the EV plant is now 80% complete, said Mr Shen.
The company plans to produce up to 100,000 vehicles a year in the first phase, rising to 200,000 in the second phase, which is scheduled to start in 2026, he said.
Battery EVs, plug-in hybrids and range-extended EVs, also known as REEVs, are expected to be the main products of the factory, said Mr Shen.
REEVs, designed to alleviate the worry of limited battery life for long-distance travel, combine electric mobility technology with a gasoline engine that charges the battery while the car is in motion.
Changan has cut its domestic sales target to beteen 15,000 and 18,000 units for 2024 because of the sluggish economy, weak purchasing power and banks’ stricter loan criteria that has led to a sharp drop in auto sales.