Great Wall Motor targets 50% growth in Thailand this year
GWM sold 11,600 cars in Thailand last year, more than triple the 2021 tally
China‘s Great Wall will target 50% growth in Thailand this year. Great Wall Motor’s Ora Good Cat is already the top-selling electric vehicle in the kingdom.
Great Wall Motor aims to increase sales in Thailand by 50% this year, the privately owned automaker said on Friday, while also planning to launch production of electric vehicles in Thailand in 2024.
GWM sold 11,600 units in Thailand during 2022, more than triple the previous year’s tally, for a market share of 1.4%. The company is targeting sales of 18,000 vehicles in 2023, with plans to introduce five new models.
More than one-third of the cars sold in 2022 were of GWM’s Good Cat, a compact electric vehicle under the Ora brand. Thailand has provided subsidies and tax incentives for the car on the condition that it be produced locally.
Good Cats currently are imported from China and was the leading EV in Thailand by new registrations last year, with a 39% share.
The Good Cat is marketed in other countries as the Hao Mao and the Funky Cat. Sales of the car are suspended in Thailand due to production delays, but the company will resume accepting reservations soon. It aims to sell 5,000 units here in 2023.
GWM plans to invest a total of 22.6 billion baht (US$675 million) to renovate a plant in Rayong that it acquired from General Motors in 2020. The company already has invested 12 billion baht and production of the Good Cat is slated to begin in Q1 2024.
The automaker uses Thailand as a production base for Southeast Asia, exporting electric vehicles from Thailand to neighbouring countries.
Narong Sritalayon, managing director of Great Wall Motors Thailand, said…
“Thai people have a keen interest in EVs, and we predict that the market for electric vehicles in Thailand in 2023 will expand 50% from last year.”
