In recent years, Chinese automobiles have gone abroad, especially domestic new energy vehicles have gone overseas, which has not only expanded sales, but also made an industrial drive and industry competition for the host country, which has a profound impact on the local automobile environment.
Thailand, as the first destination for many Chinese new energy vehicle brands to go overseas in Southeast Asia, is due to Thailand's rich automotive supply chain industry, abundant spare parts enterprises, and a large consumer market. What may surprise many people is that Thailand is also a big country in automobile production and sales, is the top ten in the world in automobile production, and more than half of Thailand's automobile production is exported to foreign countries around the world, so this is why many domestic cars take Thailand as a bridgehead and use Thailand as a springboard for the Southeast Asian market.
Great Wall Motors, BYD, Nezha, Changan and other well-known brands have gone over to invest in the construction of factories, implement the localization strategy, and use the Thai factory as a bridgehead to radiate the entire Southeast Asia, investing heavily in manpower and material resources. Of course, there are also many manufacturers who have built factories in Thailand and then built factories in Indonesia and Malaysia.
Since the Thai market is the first stop for many domestic brands, it is very valued, and the production and marketing effect formed is definitely worth it. At the 40th World Auto Expo in Thailand in 2023, Chinese brands accounted for 60% of the expo's sales in just 7 days of orders. In the sales ranking in the first ten months of 2023, in the top 10, Chinese car brands occupy 8 seats, and in the total sales, Chinese cars account for 80%, and even Tesla ranks at the bottom and has no way to fight back. This is why domestic cars go overseas so much to value the Thai market, which is not only a well-equipped market, but also a well-developed market, but also a market where domestic brands open up their reputation.
Equally important, Thailand has provided very attractive investment policies in order to support the new energy vehicle industry. For example, new energy vehicles can enjoy a preferential tax rate of 2%, while traditional vehicles can enjoy a consumption tax rate of 8%, and new energy vehicles imported into Thailand between 2022 and 2023 can enjoy a maximum of 6% off import tax. Companies that invest at least 5 billion baht (about 1.04 billion yuan) in the production of electric vehicles can be exempted from paying 20% corporate tax for 3 to 8 years.
On January 27, Thailand has called on India's two major car companies - Tata Motors and Mahindra to build factories in Thailand, Thailand's trade representative Nalinee Taveesin held talks with executives of the two companies during his recent visit to India, according to the statement, Nalinee said that Tata Motors can use Thailand as an export center for its electric vehicles and battery products.
Why did Thailand invite Indian auto giants to build factories in Thailand at this time? Is it to enrich Thai auto brands and provide more options for the market? Or is it to use Indian auto brands to balance the Thai auto market, which is monopolized by Chinese brands?
According to the principle of not putting all eggs in one basket, Thailand will be de-risked, not dominated by multinational auto giants or brands, control the discourse of the Thai auto industry, and influence the market decision-making of the Thai government. This should be the core reason why Thailand invited Indian auto giants to participate in the Thai market.
In fact, Toyota and Honda of Japan also invested in Thailand very early and have always occupied a dominant position in the Thai market.
The Thai government's invitation to Indian auto giants to build factories and invest is only to more disperse the brand monopoly concentration in the Thai market, so that the Thai auto market will develop more actively and healthily. Of course, standing on the position of our domestic brand, we have the opposite attitude!