Thailand’s Industry Minister, Akanat Promphan, last week confirmed he plans to meet with executives of Japan’s main automakers to encourage them to step up their investments in battery electric vehicle (BEV) production in the country. The announcement follows meetings held with representatives of Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
At present Japanese automakers mainly produce internal combustion engine (ICE) and hybrid vehicles in Thailand, with the country’s BEV market currently dominated by Chinese automakers such as BYD, Deepal, GAC Aion, Hozon and Great Wall Motors. BEV sales grew by around 10% to just over 82,000 units in the first ten months of the year, while sales of other types of vehicles declined by an estimated 30% to 394,000 units.
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Japanese automakers are being encouraged by the Thai government to speed up their transitions to zero-emission vehicles and have been invited to discuss their plans with the Ministry of Industry. Akanat wants automakers such as Toyota, Isuzu, Honda, Mitsubishi, Mazda and Nissan to move forward with plans to invest in local BEV assembly, establish related component supply chains including the transfer of advanced mobility technologies.
Toyota and Isuzu both have plans in place to launch local production of battery-powered pickup trucks next year.
