From Bangkok Airport, to the airport expressway, toll stations, and Bangkok streets, there are BYD's model advertisements all the way, as well as the huge "NO.1" (2023 global new energy vehicle sales champion), which is dizzying, as if coming to BYD's home field.
On July 4, BYD's Thailand plant was officially completed, and BYD's 8 million new energy vehicles officially rolled off the assembly line.
It took about 3 hours to drive southeast from Bangkok to BYD's Thailand plant in Rayong Province, Thailand. From production to completion, it took only 16 months for the plant to set a record for the fastest production of a Chinese car in Thailand.
It took 3 years for BYD cars to go from 1 million to 8 million units, and from 5 million to 8 million units, it took only 11 months, and the speed of completing one million units is getting faster and faster. Now, BYD has brought Chinese speed to Thailand.
I don't know, on the day of the completion of the factory in Thailand, Wang Chuanfu looked at the magnificent factory rising in the wilderness of the field, will he remember that many years ago, BYD settled in Shenzhen, and the Pingshan factory was also like this when it was completed?
Many years ago, Wang Chuanfu drew a circle in Shenzhen, which has profoundly changed the pattern of China's automobile industry. Now, he has drawn another circle in Thailand to influence the Southeast Asian car market. And not only Thailand, he has already drawn circles in Hungary, Uzbekistan, Indonesia, and even Brazil.
"Brother Boatman" goes to sea, can BYD really change the global automobile pattern and realize the deepest dream in his heart?
How are they selling in Thailand?
"Since 2023, BYD has occupied a leading position in Thailand's NEV market for 18 consecutive months, with one out of every three NEVs sold being BYD." Wang Chuanfu said at the completion ceremony.
SINCE BYD ENTERED THE THAI MARKET IN AUGUST 2022, BYD HAS QUICKLY WON THE FAVOR OF THAI CONSUMERS WITH ITS THREE PURE ELECTRIC MODELS - BYD ATTO 3 (YUAN PLUS), BYD DOLPHIN (DOLPHIN) AND BYD SEAL (SEAL), AND HAS BEEN THE CHAMPION OF THAI PURE ELECTRIC VEHICLE SALES FOR 18 CONSECUTIVE MONTHS.
BYD's first car sales took only 42 days to complete its first 10,000 sales in Thailand. At the completion ceremony, Liu Xueliang, general manager of BYD's Asia-Pacific Automobile Sales Division, was still very proud of the "pioneering" Thai market.
In 2023, as BYD's first full delivery year in the Thai market, the number of BYD models on the license plate will reach 30,650 units, becoming the champion brand of pure electric vehicle sales in Thailand of the year, with a market share of more than 40%.
Entering 2024, BYD's momentum in Thailand is still strong, and the cumulative number of BYD licenses in Thailand from January to May has reached 12,895, and the market share of pure electric vehicles has risen to 40.5%.
BYD's initial success in the Thai market is inseparable from the rapid expansion of its sales network. Up to now, BYD has 115 stores and 27 dealers in Thailand, covering 60 provinces. It is estimated that by 2024, the number of BYD stores in Thailand will exceed 160, achieving full coverage of 77 provinces in Thailand.
Why Thailand?
Thailand is the largest automobile manufacturer in the ASEAN region and the tenth largest automobile producer in the world, with huge potential in the automobile market. Although car sales in Thailand fell by 8.7% year-on-year in 2023, passenger car sales achieved a significant increase of 10.4%.
In particular, in terms of new energy vehicles, the number of newly registered new energy vehicles in Thailand in 2023 increased by 104.81% year-on-year, accounting for 6.4% of the total number of newly registered motor vehicles. This shows that Thai consumers' demand for automobiles is still strong, especially the new energy vehicle market is showing a rapid growth trend. This trend provides a broad market space for Chinese new energy vehicle brands such as BYD.
In addition, Thailand has also formulated a "30/30" policy, that is, by 2030, the domestic EV substitution rate must be more than 30%, and the production capacity of new energy vehicles must also reach more than 30%. These policies provide a good market environment and development opportunities for BYD's development in the Thai market.
BYD chose Thailand as one of its overseas production bases based on its important strategic position and market demand. As a transportation hub and automobile manufacturing and export center in Southeast Asia, Thailand has a mature automotive industry infrastructure and supply chain network, with more than 700 first-tier spare parts suppliers. Thailand is also the largest exporter of automobiles in ASEAN, with an annual export volume of 2 million units.
The demand for new energy vehicles in the ASEAN region is growing. Through the Thai factory, BYD can quickly respond to the market demand of ASEAN countries, and then promote the radiation and popularization of new energy vehicles in the entire Southeast Asian market.
It can be said that once Thailand is taken, the Southeast Asian market is just around the corner.
In addition to BYD's rich brand matrix, excellent product performance and technical strength, it is also inseparable from the support of the local government of Thailand and the close cooperation of many partners. In recent years, the Thai government has introduced a number of support policies for electric vehicles, including financial subsidy programs for electric vehicles, tax relief measures, etc., to accelerate the popularization and promotion of electric vehicles.
How to fight against the powerful Japanese car?
Standing on the hustle and bustle of the streets of Bangkok, the traffic that catches your eye is still dominated by Japanese cars such as Toyota and Honda. It can be said that the Thai market is still dominated by Japanese cars. Japanese automakers have been deeply involved in the Thai and ASEAN markets for many years. At its peak, Japanese brands had a market share of nearly 90% in Thailand.
But things are changing. In Thailand's auto market in 2023, the market share of Japanese brands will shrink by 8 percentage points to 78%, while the market share of Chinese brands will increase by 1.2 times year-on-year to 11%.
In 2023, there are 6 Japanese brands, 1 American brand, and 3 Chinese brands in the top 10 brands in terms of overall vehicle sales (including commercial vehicles). Japanese brands are still the main players in Thailand's new car market, but Chinese automakers are growing strongly.
In terms of car brands, Toyota (including Lexus) sold 265949 units, with a market share of 34.3%; followed by Isuzu with 151935 units sold; Honda sold 94,336 units; BYD sold 30,432 units, ranking sixth; MG sold 27,311 vehicles, ranking seventh; Nezha Automobile sold 13,836 units, ranking tenth.
However, at present, the Thai government is also aware that the development of Japanese cars in electrification and intelligence is slow, and this is the strongest advantage of Chinese car companies, so it also hopes to attract more Chinese car companies to invest in Thailand. On the other hand, Japanese automakers are cutting production capacity in Thailand, with Suzuki and Subaru announcing the closure of their factories in Thailand, and Isuzu deciding to reduce production capacity and shift to its Indonesian plant. This is the opportunity for China's BYD.
In 2023, the Isuzu D-Max is the best-selling model in the Thai automotive market, with more than 127,000 units sold. Toyota Hilux ranked second with more than 114,000 units sold, with the top two being pickup trucks. This is also an opportunity for BYD. BYD was the first to launch the SHARK new energy pickup truck in Mexico, and the same model may be launched in Thailand.
In China, BYD has made its joint venture brands, including Japanese joint venture brands, lose ground in the competition. In the Thai market and Southeast Asian market, can BYD still be so strong?
If you can go up the mountain, don't go down to the sea. "Going to sea" may have calm and smooth times, but there are more stormy seas and thrills of icebergs and reefs. On the same day that BYD's Thailand plant was completed and put into operation, the European Commission decided to impose temporary countervailing duties on the import of electric vehicles from China after a nine-month countervailing investigation into Chinese electric vehicles. Among them, BYD 17.4%, Geely 19.9%, and SAIC 37.6%.
Of course, Wang Chuanfu knows very well the difficulty of going to sea, even more so than winning the championship in China. Before the completion of the factory in Thailand, BYD released the official promotional film "Chinese Brands, How Difficult You Are", paying tribute to Chinese brands that face difficulties and persist in the journey to the sea. The sentence at the end of the film: Achieving a world-class Chinese brand is actually the deepest dream of the "boatman" brother Wang Chuanfu.