BYD announced recently that it plans to build a factory in Thailand that will manufacture electric cars for the southeast Asia market. BYD will work together with WHA Group, the largest industrial developer in Thailand.
The company said the new factory is set to begin operations in 2024, building cars for the local market and for export to countries such as those in Southeast Asia. When the Thai factory opens, annual production capacity will be about 150,000 vehicles. WHA noted that by 2030, electric vehicles are expected to account for 30% of Thailand’s total car production — or 700,000 such cars a year.
BYD has more than 30 factories around the world, including the United States, Japan, Canada, Brazil, Hungary, and India, but they are primarily focused on producing trucks and buses. The new factory will be the first for passenger cars outside China.
BYD’s rapid growth
For years, much of BYD’s business, especially overseas, has focused on commercial vehicles such as buses. But in the last few years the company has quickly become an electric vehicle giant in China, the world’s largest auto market.
BYD said it sold more than 487,000 purely battery-powered passenger cars for the first eight months of the year — more than triple the number sold during the same period last year. For a rough comparison, the latest figures from electric car maker Tesla show the company delivered 564,743 vehicles in the first six months of the year. That’s up 46% from a year ago. Unlike Tesla’s handful of premium-priced models, BYD’s numerous models cover a range of prices.
BYD has said it stopped producing oil-fueled vehicles since March, and focused instead on battery-powered and hybrid vehicles. As of April 2021, BYD said all of its pure electric vehicles will use the company’s self-developed “Blade” battery that was first installed in its popular Han luxury sedan.