Four Japanese automakers, including Toyota, are planning to collectively 8invest over 600 billion Yen (US$4.24 billion; US$1=141.4 Yen) in the next five y ears for electric vehicle (EV) production in Thailand, according to reports from Nikkei and Kyodo News.
The Thai government announced on Dec 25 last year that Toyota, Honda, Mitsubishi Motors, and Isuzu plan to invest a total of 150 billion Baht (US$4.39 billion; US$1=34.2 Baht) in local EV production over the next five years. The government also stated that the four automakers are expected to individually invest between 20 billion (US$584 million) and 50 billion (US$1.46 billion) Baht. Reports indicate that Japanese automakers hold a significant market share in the Thai automotive market but they lag behind Chinese automakers in the EV sector. From January to October 2023, EV sales in Thailand accounted for 9% of total car sales. In the Thailand EV market, Chinese automakers have a dominating market share of 80%. Toyota is set to launch 10 new EV models by the end of 2026, aiming to increase annual EV sales to 1.5 million units by then.
Meanwhile, global EV sales volume is projected to reach 17.8 million units in 2024, growing by 20% year-on-year, according to the Market Intelligence & Consulting Institute (MIC), a division of the Institute for Information Industry (III), a leading government think tank and IT research institute in Taiwan.