also continue to strengthen in line with the gradual expansion of the national vehicle fleet of 17 million automobiles and 21 million motorcycles.
Recently investment in the manufacturing of parts of electric vehicles has begun in Thailand, in particular for batteries. Examples include Toyota’s opening of a nickel metal hydride battery factory and BMW plans to invest in developing lithium ion batteries. There is a demand from the OEM market for parts such as engines, radiators, exhaust systems, fuel distribution systems, petrol tanks, ignition systems and gears.
Electric Vehicles Market
In terms of electric-powered automobiles, government’s support for the production of electric vehicles (EVs) covers three categories; hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and battery electric vehicles (BEVs). The government has made amendments to the process for making applications under the Eco-car Phase I and Eco-car Phase II schemes to allow manufacturers to aggregate the number of EVs they have produced with Eco-cars when making investment privilege submissions. In addition, the government has also undertaken measures to stimulate the domestic market for EV which have included making the use of EVs more convenient by helping state and private organizations expand the number of vehicle-charging stations in the country and by placing EVs in a low excise tax category. Over the longer term, the government’s policy has been revised and will be emphasized the development of EVs technology with the goal that Thailand will become a regionally important EVs production center.
Heavy Duty Market
Regarding production capacity, the whole Thai automotive sector produced at 3.81 million vehicles, with a split between passenger and commercial vehicles. 54% of total market was commercial vehicles. This 54% comprised of 49% 1-tonne pickups and 5% other commercial vehicles (trucks, buses, vans, etc), 48% of exports of vehicles from Thailand were commercial vehicles and most of these were 1-tonne pickup, with the most important overseas market being the ASEAN region, Australia and New Zealand. Exports account for 10-15% of the output of other types of commercial vehicles.
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For Information about exporting to Hong Kong contact:
Ora Boonyalug
U.S. Embassy Bangkok, Thailand
Commercial Specialist - Auto & Smart Mobility Team
662-205-5241
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