Hozon Auto’s Chinese electric car brand Neta has started building its first production facility outside China. The site in the Thai capital of Bangkok is scheduled to go into operation at the end of January 2024. The new plant will become Neta’s key location for manufacturing and exporting right-hand drive electric cars to ASEAN countries.
The carmaker did not provide any details on production capacity but that it was “the first plant of China EV startups in Thailand.”
Neta has also signed a cooperation agreement with the Thai company Bangchan General Assembly Co., Ltd. (BGAC) to operate the plant. The plant will consist of three major facilities, the body shop, the paint shop and the final assembly. All areas will have “optimized plant design and innovative process technologies based on the concept of lean and intelligent manufacture,” according to Neta. That should save resources and increase quality and efficiency.
The announcement does not say which models Neta plans to build at the new plant in Bangkok. The Chinese offer the Neta V in Thailand, a 4.07 metre-long electric SUV. In China, the car is sold for the equivalent of less than 10,000 euros. In January 2023, it was announced that Neta would also use the skateboard chassis from shareholder CATL – but it is not known whether this will be the case in China or Thailand.
According to Neta CEO Zhang Yong, Neta will build “several world-class intelligent EV manufacturing bases simultaneously “to advance its globalization. He said the plan is to open up more countries in the Middle East, the EU and other regions.
BYD also just kicked off the construction of an electric car plant in Thailand. Horizon Plus, a joint venture between Taiwanese contract manufacturer Foxconn and Thai energy company PTT, and by Aiways are also building EV production facilities in Thailand.
Keyword: Neta starts building EV factory in Thailand