China News Service, Shanghai, January 8 (Zhou Zhuoao) If today's Thai consumers consider buying a pure electric vehicle, Chinese brand pure electric vehicles have become their first choice.
"Chinese brands account for more than 90% of the total sales of pure electric vehicles in Thailand." Zuo Chen, director of the market and product strategy department of MG (Thailand) Automobile Sales Company, a subsidiary of SAIC Zhengda, said in an interview with a reporter from Chinanews.com. The "back garden" of Japanese cars has a market share of more than 90%. With the entry of Chinese brands such as MG into Thailand, the share of Japanese brands has begun to decline. Especially in the field of pure electric vehicles, Chinese car companies have achieved very good results. .
Zuo Chen said that Chinese car companies have a certain first-mover advantage in the field of electric vehicles. The excellent performance fully demonstrates the recognition of the MG brand by consumers, which is inseparable from the early efforts of the MG brand in the field of traditional fuel vehicles.
According to Zuo Chen, SAIC focuses on exploring the implementation of intelligent networking technology in Thailand. In 2017, MG ZS, which took the i-Smart Internet system as the entry point, was the first Internet model in Thailand and the world's first vehicle capable of conducting vehicle operations in Thai language. Features such as voice-controlled cars are sought after by Thai consumers. "Black technology", "Internet" and "rejuvenation" have also become the new image of the MG brand in the hearts of Thai consumers.
At present, the MG product line has initially covered all major market segments in Thailand, and 20 products have been launched one after another. As of October 2021, MG accounted for about 8% of the market share in the passenger vehicle field, ranking fourth in the market, having surpassed Some Japanese brands.
In addition to SAIC, Great Wall Motors also performed well in the Thai market: Haval H6 HEV won the monthly sales champion of the C-segment SUV market twice in the first three months of its launch in Thailand, and Haval JOLION HEV was even more successful in the pre-sale period before the launch. "Breakthrough" was achieved.
Xu Haidong, deputy chief engineer of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, said that in recent years, Chinese brand cars have been greatly improved in terms of appearance, quality, and intelligent network configuration. Compared with joint venture brand products, they are not inferior to some advanced configuration Even beyond joint venture products, it has strong competitiveness overseas.
Xu Haidong pointed out that there have been important changes in the overseas investment model of Chinese auto companies, from the original trade model to some KD models (referring to the way in which manufacturers disassemble the whole vehicle into semi-bulk or bulk, and then export it to the territorial countries, and reassemble it into a complete vehicle. Sales)-based development into a direct investment model.
Factories directly invested by a number of companies have started mass production overseas, and have gradually increased production and sales, which has supported the overseas sales of Chinese brand cars.
Thailand, which has the reputation of "Asian Detroit", has become a key consideration for Chinese car companies to set up factories overseas.
As early as 2014, the Thailand plant of SAIC-CP, a joint venture between China's SAIC Group and Thailand's CP Group, was completed and put into production, with a designed annual production capacity of 100,000 units.
Great Wall Motor's Rayong plant in Thailand will also be officially put into production in 2021. The initial annual production capacity of the plant will reach 80,000 vehicles. 60% of the cars produced will be sold locally in Thailand, and 40% will be exported to other overseas markets.
Zhang Xiang, an automobile industry analyst, told Chinanews.com that Thailand is the largest automobile producer in Southeast Asia. It has the advantages of a complete industrial chain, large market potential, and a wide range of radiation. For Chinese car companies, Thailand is a good springboard to go overseas. .
Zhang Xiang said that the complete vehicle industry chain in ASEAN countries is not perfect, and a competitive local new energy vehicle brand has not yet been formed. Therefore, Chinese new energy vehicles have strong competitiveness in Southeast Asian countries. With the help of preferential tariff conditions within ASEAN, products can be made more cost-effective.” (End)