China’s BYD opened its first electric vehicle plant in Thailand on Thursday, the auto maker’s first in Southeast Asia.
“China’s BYD is using Thailand as a production hub for export to ASEAN and many other countries,” Narit Therdsteerasukdi, Secretary General of Thailand’s Board of Investment said at the opening ceremony, referring to the 10-nation Southeast Asian bloc.
The facility, announced two years ago, is worth $490 million and will have a production capacity of 150,000 vehicles per year.  The factory is located in an industrial estate in Thailand’s eastern Rayong province.
This is a double celebration for BYD: first the Thailand plant and second, the eight millionth new energy vehicle will roll off the assembly line. This comes days after production began at BYD’s factory in Uzbekistan.
It took BYD 13 years to get to the first million new energy vehicles in 2021. From seven million to eight million it has taken less than four months. The seven millionth was completed in March this year.
The five millionth electric car came off the assembly lines in August 2023.
At this stage it’s not clear if the eight millionth car will roll off the Thai assembly line or whether production will even commence there on July 4th. The Thai plant is BYD’s first wholly owned plant overseas while the one in Uzbekistan is the result of a joint venture.
Construction of the Thai plant began in March last year in the Eastern Economic Corridor special zone in Rayong province on the Gulf of Thailand.
The production plan is for the cars to meet local demand before the bigger Asean market is tapped. Leaving aside Thailand, there are nine other countries that make up the Asean, and these countries are expected to provide lucrative sales to BYD.
Of course some like Vietnam have a vibrant electric vehicle manufacturing base of their own. Vinfast, for instance, the Vietnamese EV maker, is expanding beyond its borders and is setting up shop in India.
