Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak has brought up the concept of Thailand being a hub of Electric Vehicle (EV) production, with the Cabinet agreeing to EV promotion. This is in addition to Thailand promoting eco cars and hybrids.
The EV production covers Plug-In Hybrids (PHEV and HEV), Battery Electric (BEV) and Fuel Cell EV’s. The news was not welcomed by Toyota and Honda, who said that the market in EV’s is not big enough to warrant the tooling up that would be required for EV’s.
However, Mercedes are stepping up their PHEV production with the S500e and C350e models already being produced in their Thai plant. Mercedes believes that EV’s will be the “next wave” in the auto industry, with only battery charging stations slowing the acceptance by Thai drivers.
In an environment full of doom and disaster, with sales figures plummeting, Mercedes are showing an 8 percent growth in passenger vehicle sales over the first six months of 2016, up to 6,504 vehicles, of which more than 1,000 have been PHEV’s.
