After visiting the U.S. in September last year, Thai Prime Minister Sretta Thavisin said Tesla is considering building an electric vehicle plant in Thailand.
Prime Minister Theta, who also met with Tesla executives in November last year at a plant in California, said Tesla is investigating three Thai plant sites and is expected to announce more than $5 billion in investment in the first quarter of this year.
Thailand, Southeast Asia’s largest car producer, is intensively fostering the electric vehicle industry with the goal of converting 30% of its total car production to electric vehicles by 2030.
With the rapid growth of the electric vehicle market amid the Thai government’s active efforts to attract investment, companies in each country are also competing to build factories in Thailand.
China’s BYD completed its first plant in Southeast Asia in Thailand in June. China’s Guangzhou Automotive Group’s electric vehicle subsidiary Aion also completed its plant in Thailand last month.
Hyundai Motor plans to assemble and produce electric vehicles in Thailand from 2026 through consignment manufacturing in partnership with local companies.
Tesla entered the Thai market in December 2022 and launched Model 3 and Model Y.
JULIE KIM
US ASIA JOURNAL
