Increasing Investment in Fast-growing Markets
Global automakers’ competition is heating up in the electric vehicle markets of the ASEAN and India.
Mitsubishi Motors Thailand announced on March 21 that it would sell only pure electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid cars starting from 2024. Mitsubishi is the fourth-largest seller in the Thai car market.
Suzuki is planning to invest 1.5 trillion won in India in order to produce more electric vehicles and build an electric vehicle battery plant there. It is the largest company in the market with a share of about 45 percent and is planning to manufacture electric vehicles in earnest starting from 2025.
The Indian and ASEAN electric vehicle markets are expected to keep growing fast. In Thailand, the second-largest ASEAN car market, a total of 754,254 cars were sold last year, including 2,000 or so pure electric vehicles. The Thai government announced last year that electric vehicles would account for 30 percent of the total car production in the country in 2030.
The government of Indonesia, the largest ASEAN car market, is aiming to reach a green car ratio of 30 percent by 2035. In India, the fifth-largest car market in the world, the target year and ratio are 2030 and 30 percent, respectively.
With those governments providing a lot of incentives for green car buyers and suppliers alike, a number of automakers are increasing their investments in those regions. Hyundai Motor Company recently decided to produce the Ioniq 5 in Bekasi, Indonesia and Mercedes-Benz is producing electric vehicles in Thailand. Foxconn is planning to build an EV plant in Thailand by investing two trillion won.