(Bloomberg) — Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD Co. will acquire a 20% stake in its Thai official distributor Rever Automotive Co. after opening its first manufacturing plant in the Southeast Asian market.
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The move is part of a joint investment agreement between the two companies, Rever Automotive said in a statement late Saturday. The joint venture will raise their competitiveness in the electric vehicle industry, Rever added.
The announcement came days after BYD opened a plant in Thailand’s Rayong province, nearly two years after it signed a land deal for its first production facility in Southeast Asia. The plant will be a production base for right-hand drive vehicles and will support sales in Thailand and exports to other Southeast Asian markets.
The factory has an annual production capacity of as many as 150,000 vehicles, according to BYD. The plant will also produce key components such as batteries and transmissions, it said.
The new investment plan followed a meeting on Friday between Wang Chuanfu, BYD’s chairman and chief executive officer, and Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin. The two discussed recent price cuts on BYD models in Thailand, which sparked anger among existing customers.
The Chinese EV maker, which is backed by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., is among the leading companies to take advantage of the Thai government’s tax incentives, a key part of a plan to make Thailand — a longstanding auto manufacturing powerhouse — into the EV production hub of Southeast Asia.
Thailand aims to ramp up local EV output to reach at least 30% of total car production by 2030.
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