Great Wall Motors (GWM) has quietly begun building electric vehicles in Thailand, predominantly known for its production of utes until now.
Sold here the GWM Ora has become the first mass-produced electric vehicle to be built outside of China by a Chinese OEM .
The first example rolled off the production line at GWM’s Rayong factory in Thailand on January 24.
GWM officially acquired the Rayong factory in November, 2020, becoming the first fully-owned Chinese automotive brand to enter the Thai market.
It’s a significant milestone for both the Chinese as well as Thailand’s automotive history, marking a shift from ICE vehicles to electrified models.
Ora is Thailand’s first locally manufactured electric vehicle, making a pioneering shift in the country’s automotive industry from traditional ICE to pure electric models.
The company says it is an historic moment in GWM’s global strategy and ecological expansion, signifying its capability to produce a comprehensive range of new energy products covering HEV, PHEV, and BEV models on a global scale — like the GWM’s Brazilian factory, as well as other knocked-down assembly production bases across the world in the future.
Great Wall has also established another factory devoted to the production of batteries for the Thai-built GWM Ora under the name S-VOLT, as well as brands like Mitsubishi, Mini, NETA and others.
The planned capacity for S-VOLT in Thailand can meet the demand for 60,000 battery PACKs of BEV (50-60 kWh on average).
GWM has become the first brand in the Thai market dedicated to new energy vehicles, with a direct sales model and “fixed-price” sales approach.
Since its launch on October 29, 2021, the GWM Ora has delivered over 10,000 units in Thailand.
In 2022, with only one model, it claimed a third of the Thai pure electric market.
In 2023, despite the influx of new electric models, the GWM Ora maintained a top-four position in the Thai market, holding approximately 10 per cent of the pure electric market share.
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