Bangkok: BYD, a Chinese company that makes electric vehicles (EVs), said Thursday that it would build a factory in Thailand to start making 150,000 passenger cars a year starting in 2024.
In a joint statement, BYD and the Thai industrial developer WHA Group said that a deal had been made to buy 96 hectares (237 acres) of land in the province of Rayong in the country’s east for the plant.
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The project to make EVs was approved by Thailand’s Board of Investment last month. It will cost $491 million and 17.9 billion baht.
China’s biggest maker of electric vehicles (EVs) wants to sell 10,000 units in Thailand and send the rest to countries in Southeast Asia and Europe.
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It already has more than 30 factories in places like the United States, Brazil, and India.
Thailand is a regional production and export hub for some of the world’s best carmakers, like Toyota and Honda. The government recently gave tax breaks and subsidies to companies that make electric vehicles (EVs) to get them to join.