Great Wall Motors’ Ora Good Cat is building a buzz in Thailand. Photo: Shutterstock

 

Jitsiree Thongnoi

 

● With its pretty looks, attractive price and reasonable range, the Ora Good Cat of Great Wall Motor is setting records by appealing to young consumers and women

 

● As Thailand embraces EVs, Chinese brands are stealing a march on more established Japanese rivals, but the country’s status as ‘Asia’s Detroit’ is under pressure from Indonesia

 

Veteran Thai journalist Nithi Thuamprathom has covered the automotive industry for two decades but it was only recently, at an exhibition in Shanghai a few years ago, that Chinese electric cars first caught his attention.

 

“The show opened my eyes to how much China has progressed in developing its electric cars,” he said. “I had visited car shows in Europe for 10 years, but it was in China that I was very impressed with the car products on display.”

 

When Great Wall Motor – a Chinese carmaker that’s still a newcomer in the Thai market long dominated by Japanese brands – last month released the Haomao or Ora Good Cat, it received more than 4,200 pre-orders in less than 24 hours, a record for zero-emission cars in Thailand and a figure that eclipsed even the previous high for annual sales of battery-run EVs in the kingdom.

 

Full story: https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3157507/why-chinese-electric-cars-are-causing-buzz-thailand

 

-- © Copyright South China Morning Post 2021-11-29

 

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South China Post posts pro-Chinese article ? Who'da thought it

2 hours ago, webfact said:

The show opened my eyes to how much China has progressed in developing its electric cars,” he said. “I had visited car shows in Europe for 10 years, but it was in China that I was very impressed with the car products on display.”

They opened up a showroom in Central Westgate Mall about two months ago....the Ora GoodCat in Powder Blue does look stunning....know nothing about price or reliability.

Starting at 989,000.

Wouldn't buy a single chopstick from China at the moment until such time as they stop saber rattling and threatening Taiwan

12 minutes ago, Denim said:

Wouldn't buy a single chopstick from China at the moment until such time as they stop saber rattling and threatening Taiwan

I respect your position on Taiwan, and we could add the Uighur and Hong Kong. However, the world economy is so globalized and complex nowadays that it's basically impossible to avoid completely the products from one specific country. I believe that you are using at this very moment much more than a chopstick from China. And frankly, if I had to follow politics over economics, there are a few other big countries I would have to avoid.

26 minutes ago, LawrenceN said:

Starting at 989,000.

So, where are all the charging stations? I would hate to get stuck in traffic half way home and then the batteries die, then have to push it the rest of the way home.

1 minute ago, vandeventer said:

So, where are all the charging stations? I would hate to get stuck in traffic half way home and then the batteries die, then have to push it the rest of the way home.

Given Chinese EVs have 0% tax here in Thailand, they are over-priced by some margin. China has 300 EV manufacturers and is way ahead of Europe in battery development. Sadly their offerings have too much nasty hard plastic throughout most of the interior.

I'd rather ride a bicycle than drive something called a "Good Cat".

9 minutes ago, vandeventer said:

So, where are all the charging stations? I would hate to get stuck in traffic half way home and then the batteries die, then have to push it the rest of the way home.

They need to have regular 13 amp plugs on them with a long chord!

2 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

South China Post posts pro-Chinese article ? Who'da thought it

Indeed. They were forced to take a turn some years back. ????

BMW and Volvos built in China are being imported to Thailand now to enjoy the 0% import tax, yet they maintain the artificial high price to preserve their traditional car market

You may take the piff but even in the UK, Chinese electric cars are impressing the pundits

 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/cars/mg/mg-zs-ev-review-cheap-cheerful-whole-lot-besides/

39 minutes ago, arithai12 said:

I respect your position on Taiwan, and we could add the Uighur and Hong Kong. However, the world economy is so globalized and complex nowadays that it's basically impossible to avoid completely the products from one specific country. I believe that you are using at this very moment much more than a chopstick from China. And frankly, if I had to follow politics over economics, there are a few other big countries I would have to avoid.

I agree entirely with what you say and am aware of how impossible it is to totally avoid Chinese products.

 

Nonetheless, I am not going to make things any easier for them by giving up and just buying a Realme phone and to hell with it. Dito with all other products. Chinese components are in almost everything we use but not use bending over a table and presenting our sphincter to them. Do what you can because its all you can do.

 

As for other regimes I dont like I treat them the same way. Never buy anything from Israel either.

Is the waving arm an option?

 

And the photo used has the steering wheel on the wrong side.

Electric cars are the way to go . Hydrogen powered fuel cells or standard rechargeable batteries , does not matter as long as the electricity to charge the batteries is produced in a sustainable way .

I would really like a ' simple ' electric car without too much electronics . Just charge the batteries and go for something like 2 or 3oo km ...

Hydrogen is for trucks and long distances ...

Where this car comes from , is not important to me . It's reliability and price , is .

The author of the articles idea of 'attractive price' and mine are worlds apart.

6 minutes ago, nobodysfriend said:

I would really like a ' simple ' electric car without too much electronics . Just charge the batteries and go for something like 2 or 3oo km ...

I do not see a product yet that fits my lifestyle.... owning 2 completely different vehicles is not really suitable. A small electric for those trips in and out of town, shopping, dinner etc... (which is most of my use), but I also need to cover the monthly long haul over 300km loaded up, without worrying about a slowdown over the Khao Yai mountains to visit the relatives. 

1 hour ago, tonray said:

They opened up a showroom in Central Westgate Mall about two months ago....the Ora GoodCat in Powder Blue does look stunning....know nothing about price or reliability.

Or where to plug it in?

1 hour ago, vandeventer said:

So, where are all the charging stations? I would hate to get stuck in traffic half way home and then the batteries die, then have to push it the rest of the way home.

 

Not to worry…Thailand’s finest electrical engineers are already working the problem.

 

 

 

I saw these cars yesterday at Silom complex where they have a showroom. I was wondering what brand that was. I must admit that they look nice 

8 minutes ago, nobodysfriend said:

Electric cars are the way to go . Hydrogen powered fuel cells or standard rechargeable batteries , does not matter as long as the electricity to charge the batteries is produced in a sustainable way .

I would really like a ' simple ' electric car without too much electronics . Just charge the batteries and go for something like 2 or 3oo km ...

Hydrogen is for trucks and long distances ...

Where this car comes from , is not important to me . It's reliability and price , is .

I'd love to be able to generate my own hydrogen at home from renewables and use it to power my home and car. Refueling can be done alot quicker than a recharge too. Hopefully not to long to wait.

42 minutes ago, JoePai said:

You may take the piff but even in the UK, Chinese electric cars are impressing the pundits

 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/cars/mg/mg-zs-ev-review-cheap-cheerful-whole-lot-besides/

Maybe now, but the longevity has yet to be proven.

50 minutes ago, malathione said:

I'd rather ride a bicycle than drive something called a "Good Cat".

I do, and don't need to plug it in anywhere.

I saw one at last year motor show, and i was really impressed.....huge quantity of plastic and/or non metallic parts as the  whole car body. 

Considering the Bangkok road conditions....i don't think that rivets fixing will lasting????

People put China down but it will just get better in terms of the quality of its products. Japan was put down in the 70s and it just rose and rose in quality.  Of course, the Chinese scumbag government is another story.

 

 

Horrible looking thing. Looks like it has been designed by a blind man.

35 minutes ago, edwinchester said:

I'd love to be able to generate my own hydrogen at home from renewables and use it to power my home and car. Refueling can be done alot quicker than a recharge too. Hopefully not to long to wait.

Making hydrogen is not difficult at all , even though the efficiency is very low . The problem is , hydrogen does not go in your car . Since hydrogen is rather small , the pressure used is a bit on the high side ...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_vehicle

350 to 700 bar or in psi for the US 5000 to 10000 psi . A hydrogen compressor delivering that pressure , good luck finding it anywhere at a price less then the price of 2-3 cars .