MG has announced progress in its Thai operations with a Bt30-billion investment to make Thailand its EV production hub for the Asean region.
According to a press release from MG, its Thai plant is capable of producing up to 100,000 vehicles per year, consisting of not only EVs but also hybrids fitted with internal combustion engines (ICEs).
“The Latest advancement in vehicle production is the introduction of a new production line for electric vehicles (EVs) with the local production version of the MG4 Electric as the first model,” the release stated. “Furthermore, a new EV battery production facility has been established to meet rising demands of EVs in Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries.”
On the development of MG’s New Industrial Energy Industrial Park, the entire facility is now operational with plants and offices of MG suppliers. MG stated that up to 98 per cent of staff are Thais.
According to MG, Thailand is a strategic location where MG would like to set foot on for long term business operations as it has strong confidence in the Kingdom both in terms of growth potential and demands.
“Centrally located in the region, Thailand also has high opportunity to be established as ASEAN’s export hub,” The release added.
The MG facility is located at the WHA Eastern Seaboard Industrial Estate 2 (WHA ESIE 2) in Chon Buri province. This 437-rai industrial park can be roughly divided into two zones. The first zone is a 300-rai of land plot allocated for body shop, paint shop, general assembly as well as a warehouse to store parts of every MG model.
In 2023, MG raised investment to develop the remaining land of 137.5 rais into the New Energy Industrial Park to meet with increasing sales of EVs and fulfill the entire EV ecosystem from upstream to downstream. This second and newly developed zone comprises an EV battery production facility and MG’s auto parts development zone in cooperation with leading partners.
Suroj Sangsanit, executive vice president of SAIC Motor-CP Co Ltd, said: “Our production facility utilizes many innovations and technologies including automation systems and intelligent robotics to maximize convenience, efficiency, and precision. These innovations work in sync with our skills and experienced production team to ensure we have an upper hand in production of vehicles in various format and engine technologies. Last year, MG invested and initiated local production of EVs in accordance with our parent company (SAIC Motor Corporation) as well as the government’s investment policy. The first EV model to be produced at our Thailand production plant is the MG4 Electric, which is a global EV model with global delivery over 180,000 units since it was first introduced. The first lot of local production units were also delivered to customers since April 2024. As a trailblazer in the EV market, MG not only focuses on the products, but we also would like to strengthen the entire EV ecosystem to accommodate increasing usage. Thus, we decided to invest in EV battery production facility — the first facility of such nature in ASEAN — under the name of HASCO-CP Batery Shop.”
Suroj said the facility has two major zones. The first zone is the battery assembly line which can run automatically with the help of countless technologies including robotic system to ensure exactness in production, AGV (Automated Guided Vehicle) technology to manage the flow of each battery upon assembly to minimize production time and maximize efficiency, laser welding for high precision, as well as the assembly assurance process using CCD (Charge Coupled Device) to compare with finalized prototype before assemble each battery unit with each EV unit. The second zone is a battery quality assurance zone with 60 test procedures certified under European standards and in accordance with other battery assembly plants around the world. The HASCO-CP Battery Shop can assemble 50,000 cell-to-pack batteries annually.
“All of these endeavors, including macro-scale objectives and long-term investments, truly demonstrate MG determination in continuing its business in Thailand. MG would like to push the boundary of Thai auto industry — one of key industries that can drive economic growth — and also would like to set Thailand as a production and exportation hub of ICE cars and EVs for right-hand-drive markets like Thailand, whether they are in ASEAN or other regions around the world,” he concluded.
