China’s Changan to make Thailand its major overseas EV production base
Automaker plans to manufacture 200,000 units from 2026
Changan Automobile, one of China’s “big four” state-owned electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers, has announced a plan to make Thailand its major overseas manufacturing base, targeting an output of 200,000 units by 2026, using up to 80% locally made parts.
The Chongqing-based automaker said its factory in Rayong province, built under promotional privileges granted by the Board of Investment (BOI) in 2023 with an investment budget of 10 billion baht, is now 80% complete and should start operations in the first quarter of 2025.
The factory will produce standard EVs and range extended electric vehicles (REEVs), as well as plug-in hybrid EVs. It will manufacture 100,000 units in the first year, and then increase to 200,000 units annually afterward, said Shen Xinghua, managing director of Changan Auto Southeast Asia.
He said the Rayong factory would cover left-hand drive models for export to worldwide markets, and right-hand drive models for sales in Thailand and other countries, including Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United Kingdom.
The factory will also hire about 300 Thai personnel, who will make up 70% of its workforce.
“Producing EVs in Thailand still has a 30% to 80% higher cost than in China,” said Shen. “Therefore, we will prioritise developing a supply chain network with domestic parts makers to support our high volume manufacturing, which will help bring the cost down.”
Shen said Changan planned to use parts from over 300 local suppliers, both Thai and Chinese-owned companies, to boost the local content ratio of its EVs to 50% in the first year and then 80% by 2026.
The company is also building a 3,000-square-metre warehouse capable of storing over 40,000 parts across some 2,000 types, which would enable 24-hour delivery of 95% of parts to Changan service centres nationwide, he added.
Next month, Changan will launch the Avatr 11 model in Thailand, followed by the Deepal E07 at the motor expo event in November. It also plans to open 60 showrooms/service centres in Thailand by the year-end, and increase to 100 branches in 2025.
“After about a year of conducting business in Thailand, Changan has sold over 8,000 vehicles of Deepal and Lumin models, and contributed nearly 1.2 billion baht tax revenue to the Thai government,” said the managing director.
