According to foreign media reports,The BMW Group recently announced that it has broken ground on its fifth-generation high-voltage battery manufacturing plant in Thailand.
The BMW Group has invested more than 1.6 billion baht in the project, of which nearly 1.4 billion baht will be used to purchase state-of-the-art equipment and systems, and it is expected to start local production of pure electric vehicles in the second half of 2025.
The BMW Group said that the new assembly line at the plant will convert imported batteries into modules and integrate them into high-voltage batteries.
Thailand is the second-largest economy in Southeast Asia and the largest producer and exporter of automobiles in the region.
Thanks to local policy support, Thailand's electric vehicle market is growing rapidly in recent years, and Thailand has become a popular site for related companies to deploy overseas.
Among the battery companies, CATL, EVE, Guoxuan Hi-Tech and other enterprises have achieved local layout.
In December 2022, Gotion Singapore signed a joint venture agreement with Nuovo Plus to establish a joint venture company in Thailand to build a power lithium-ion battery pack base. In June 2023, CATL entered into a CTP cooperation agreement with Thailand's ARUN PLUS***, under which CATL will provide the CTP battery pack production line to ARUN PLUS.
In July 2023, EVE signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with EA Group of Thailand. The two companies plan to form a joint venture in Thailand to build a cell production base of at least 6GWh.
Among the auto companies, BYD, SAIC and other Chinese car companies have set up factories in the local area, and Toyota and Honda have also disclosed investment plans.
In March 2023, BYD invested about RMB 3.6 billion to build its first overseas passenger car production base, the Rayong plant in Thailand, which is expected to start operations in 2024.
In the same month, Nezha Automobile announced that it had laid the foundation stone for its Thailand Eco-Smart Factory in Bangkok, which is the first overseas factory of Nezha Automobile and the first Thai factory of a new Chinese automaker.
In April 2023, a groundbreaking ceremony was held for the SAIC CP New Energy Industrial Park, an industrial park invested and built by SAIC Motor-CP, a joint venture between SAIC Motor and Thailand's CP Group.
There is a view in the industry that Thailand is the best place for Chinese car companies to enter the Southeast Asian market from all angles. And as more and more car companies pay attention to the Thai market,The offensive and defensive war between Chinese car companies and Japanese car companies in Southeast Asia will also kick off.