China’s Great Wall Motor muscles in on Thailand’s electric vehicle scene

ON THE third floor of Iconsiam, an upmarket mall in Bangkok on the banks of the Chao Phraya River, there is a newcomer to the Motor Vehicle Kingdom – a series of showrooms for imported luxury automobiles and motorcycle brands catering to the super-rich.

Neighbouring the fancy Rolls-Royce, Maserati, BMW and Mini Cooper displays is that of Great Wall Motor (GWM), showing off their ORA Good Cat – a battery-powered electric vehicle (EV) imported from China – and HAVAL models. The latter are hybrid EVs currently assembled at GWM’s plant in Rayong province, which was acquired from General Motors in 2020 after the US automotive giant closed its Thailand operations.

All the GWM models on display sell for about 1 million baht (S$38,950), below the price of most imported BMW motorcycles and 30 per cent below that of Nissan’s all-electric Leaf model, also on sale in Thailand.