Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD will acquire a 20 per cent stake in its Thai official distributor Rever Automotive after opening its first manufacturing plant in the South-east Asian market.
The move is part of a joint investment agreement between the two companies, Rever Automotive said in a statement late on Saturday (Jul 6). The joint venture will raise their competitiveness in the electric vehicle industry, Rever added.
The announcement came days after BYD opened a plant in Thailand’s Rayong province, nearly two years after it signed a land deal for its first production facility in South-east Asia. The plant will be a production base for right-hand drive vehicles and will support sales in Thailand and exports to other South-east Asian markets.
The factory has an annual production capacity of as many as 150,000 vehicles, according to BYD. The plant will also produce key components such as batteries and transmissions, it said.
The new investment plan followed a meeting on Friday between Wang Chuanfu, BYD’s chairman and chief executive officer, and Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin. The two discussed recent price cuts on BYD models in Thailand, which sparked anger among existing customers.
The Chinese EV maker, which is backed by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, is among the leading companies to take advantage of the Thai government’s tax incentives, a key part of a plan to make Thailand – a longstanding auto manufacturing powerhouse – into the EV production hub of South-east Asia.
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Thailand aims to ramp up local EV output to reach at least 30 per cent of total car production by 2030. BLOOMBERG
