SINGAPORE - Just as several carmakers have been exporting out of plants they set up in China, Chinese manufacturers are now poised to do the same with factories they have or are building in Thailand.
The latest to start producing cars in the South-east Asian country is Shenzhen-based BYD, one of the world’s largest electric vehicle (EV) makers. It is in the midst of building a plant in Rayong, a province east of Bangkok dubbed the “Detroit of Asia”.
Slated to be completed by the fourth quarter of 2024, the plant will have an initial capacity of 150,000 cars a year. Only about 10 per cent of that will be for the Thai market, while the rest will be exported to other countries, according to a Reuters report in September 2022.
A spokesman for BYD told The Straits Times from its headquarters in Shenzhen on Monday that the plant will cater to right-hand-drive markets, including Singapore.
“The product roll-off there will benefit all the right-hand-drive countries in principle, so Singapore is included,” she said, adding that the Atto 3, BYD’s best-selling model in Singapore, will be among them.
The spokesman cited the lower cost of labour and shipping to right-hand-drive markets as the reasons for building a production plant in Thailand.
She added that the plant, reported by Reuters to cost close to US$500 million (S$670 million), will be a full manufacturing facility, and not merely an assembly plant.
Speaking on Tuesday to The Straits Times, however, Mr Liu Xueliang, general manager of BYD Auto Sales (Asia Pacific), was non-committal about plans to export Thai-made cars to Singapore, which currently gets its cars from China.
Mr Liu, who attended the opening of BYD by 1826 – a BYD retail outlet set within the 1826 restaurant in Boat Quay, said: “No firm decisions have been made yet. We will look at each individual market and decide what’s best suited to it.”
He said the Thai plant would supply cars primarily to the Thai market, where locally made cars enjoy preferential taxes. In September 2022, however, Mr Liu was quoted by Nikkei Asia as saying that the factory would also supply vehicles to Asean countries and Europe.
Thailand is an established destination for car manufacturers from other countries, notably Japan. Toyota Motor, the world’s largest vehicle maker, has been making cars in Thailand since 1964, followed by Mazda in 1975 and Honda in 1984.
Several key Japanese models sold in Singapore are made in Thailand, starting with the Honda City in 1996 and Toyota Soluna (since replaced by the Vios) in 1997.
Meanwhile, other Chinese EV makers in Thailand include Changan Automobile, which is expected to start rolling out cars from its plant in Rayong in 2024.
Nikkei Asia also reported that at least two more EV projects in Thailand are expected to be approved this year, one by Aion, a sub-brand of Guangzhou Automobile Corp; and the other by CATL, the world’s biggest EV battery maker.
China’s Great Wall Motor has also been assembling cars in Thailand since acquiring a General Motors plant in 2020. In 2017, SAIC, one of China’s biggest automotive companies, opened a plant in Thailand’s Chonburi province, near Rayong. The Shanghai-based giant will start making EV batteries in Thailand this year.
While Chinese carmakers are expanding their production sites outside their home country, other car manufacturers have been exporting cars from their plants in China.
Brands such as BMW, Volvo and Polestar have been supplying Singapore with cars made in their respective plants in China from as early as 2019. Lotus will follow suit from next year.
Meanwhile, in Singapore, BYD will have another retail concept in Suntec City in July. Like the one in Boat Quay, it will be operated by lifestyle specialist EightX. There are plans for several other locations around Singapore, according to Mr Davin Ongsono, chief executive of 1826 restaurant.
