Thursday, July 04, 2024

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China's BYD opens EV plant in Thailand despite slowdown, tariff row

Bangkok (AFP) – China's electric vehicle giant BYD opened a factory in Thailand on Thursday, continuing its international expansion despite a market slowdown and hours before the European Union was due to impose swingeing tariffs on Chinese EV firms.



Issued on: 04/07/2024 - 
BYD is China's dominant electric vehicle maker but is looking to expand overseas © GREG BAKER / AFP

The plant in Rayong, an industrial area southeast of Bangkok, will be able to build up to 150,000 vehicles a year, according to the company, which dominates its domestic market.

Wang Chuanfu, Shenzhen-based BYD's chief executive, said production would initially focus on full electric vehicles and later expand to include plug-in hybrids, which combine a conventional engine with an electric motor.

"BYD Thailand plant has an annual capacity of 150,000 vehicles, including the four major processes of vehicle and parts production, and will create about 10,000 jobs," Wang said at an opening ceremony.

The move comes as Thailand seeks to shift its longstanding auto sector away from conventional vehicles and towards EV production.

BYD overtook Elon Musk's Tesla in the fourth quarter of 2023 to become the world's top seller of electric vehicles.

Tesla reclaimed top spot in the first quarter of this year, but BYD is bullish about its expansion, insisting last month it would press ahead with a second factory in the EU.

The Chinese automaker recorded a record annual profit of 30 billion yuan ($4.1 billion) last year, but in April reported lower than expected revenue for the first quarter of 2024.

BYD has faced a bitter price war in China, where a staggering 129 EV brands are slugging it out -- with only 20 achieving a domestic market share of one percent or more, according to Bloomberg.

China has led the global shift to electric vehicles, with almost one in three cars on its roads set to be electric by 2030, according to the International Energy Agency's annual Global EV Outlook.

But European regulators have raised concerns about what they say is "overcapacity" created by excessive state subsidies.

Seeking to protect European manufacturers from cheaper Chinese imports, Brussels has proposed a provisional hike of tariffs on Chinese manufacturers: 17.4 percent for BYD, 20 percent for Geely and 38.1 percent for SAIC -- in addition to the current 10 percent import duty.

EU and Chinese trade chiefs held talks last weekend in a bid to avert a bitter trade war, but the tariffs are set to come into force on Thursday.

But while they are high, the EU tariffs are significantly lower than the 100 percent rate the United States imposed from last month on Chinese electric cars.

© 2024 AFP

China's BYD opens EV factory in Thailand, first in Southeast Asia


Bangkok International Motor Show·

Updated Wed, Jul 3, 2024

By Chayut Setboonsarng

RAYONG, Thailand (Reuters) -China's BYD opened an electric vehicle plant in Thailand on Thursday, the automaker's first factory in Southeast Asia, a fast-growing regional EV market where it has become the dominant player.

"Thailand has a clear EV vision and is entering a new era of auto manufacturing," BYD CEO and President Wang Chuanfu said at the opening ceremony. "We will bring technology from China to Thailand."

The BYD plant is part of a wave of investment worth more than $1.44 billion from Chinese EV makers who are setting up factories in Thailand, helped by government subsidies and tax incentives.

Hong Kong-listed shares of the automaker rose 3.2% to HK$237.60, their biggest intraday jump since June 13.

By 2030, Thailand aims to convert 30% of its annual production of 2.5 million vehicles into EVs, according to a government plan.

Thailand is a regional auto assembly and export hub, and has long been dominated by Japanese car makers such as Toyota Motor, Honda Motor Co and Isuzu Motors.

"BYD is using Thailand as a production hub for export to ASEAN and many other countries," said Narit Therdsteerasukdi, secretary-general of Thailand's Board of Investment, 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, including plug-in hybrids.

The sprawling factory in eastern Thailand's Rayong district will employ around 10,000 workers, some of whom were seen operating machinery on Thursday as under-construction bodies of BYD's Dolphin model moved through an assembly line.

"We will also assemble batteries and other important parts here," said Liu Xueliang, BYD's Asia Pacific general manager.

Thailand is the largest overseas market for BYD, which commanded a 46% share of country's EV segment in the first quarter and is the third-largest player in passenger cars, according to research firm Counterpoint.

Other EV rivals in the local market include Great Wall Motor, which also has a production facility in Thailand, and Tesla.

BYD dealers in Thailand, however, are currently under scrutiny following a consumer complaint over aggressive discounting that has left some buyers upset with how much they paid for their cars.

(Reporting by Chayut Setboonsarng, Editing by Devjyot Ghoshal and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)


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