Honda Motor will cease vehicle production at its Ayutthaya factory by 2025, redirecting its efforts to consolidate operations at the Prachin Buri plant, the company announced today, July 9.

 

This strategic shift underscores the increasing challenges Japan’s second-largest automaker faces in Southeast Asia, as Chinese brands aggressively vie for market share in Thailand amidst rising consumer interest in electric vehicles (EVs).

 

A spokesperson confirmed that after ceasing vehicle production, the Ayutthaya plant, which kicked off operations in 1996, will pivot to manufacturing car parts. Vehicle production will be centralised at the Prachin Buri plant, operational since 2016. These two facilities are Honda’s only manufacturing plants in Thailand.

 

The combined vehicle production at Honda’s Thai plants has declined from 228,000 units in 2019 to below 150,000 annually over the past four years through 2023.

 

Sales in Thailand have also dropped, remaining under 100,000 units annually for the same period.

 

 

The spokesperson noted that Honda aims to address the disparity between production and sales within Thailand. Despite these local challenges, Honda continues to export vehicles from Thailand, primarily to other Southeast Asian markets like Indonesia and the Philippines. Currently, Honda has no plans for new investments in Thailand.

 

In China, Honda and fellow Japanese automaker Nissan Motor are grappling with intense competition from burgeoning Chinese brands. These competitors attract consumers with affordable, software-enhanced electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrids.

 

Japanese automakers risk losing market share in regions outside China, such as Southeast Asia, to emerging Chinese brands that are expanding their export activities and establishing overseas production facilities, reported Bangkok Post.

 

In related news, BYD inaugurated its first EV manufacturing plant outside China in Rayong, Thailand, marking a significant milestone with the production of its eight millionth new energy vehicle.

 

The new facility, located on a 600-rai (approximately 948,000 square metres) plot within the WHA Industrial Estate in Rayong, was officially opened on July 4. This marks BYD’s expansion into the global market with an investment exceeding 35 billion baht, covering nine projects including parts and battery production. The plant has a production capacity of 150,000 vehicles per year.

 

By Ryan Turner

Image courtesy of Kyodo/Japan Times

 

Source: The Thaiger 2024-07-09

 

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Another manufacturer having to down-size, fed up with taxes, continual threats of increased wages and utilities and competition from the 'favoured' Chinese. An unstable. 'flip flopping' government does not give them confidence either.

How can a business do a three or a five year plan here now.

People forget that many large companies came to Thailand because of low costs and incentives.

So it continues. Subaru pulling out, Suzuki pulling out, Mitsubishi lay-offs, and now Honda downsizing.

The writing on the wall has been “EV” for many years. You can’t fix Stupid and the Japanese have been that with a capital S.

 

February through June this year has seen the EV share of vehicles increase every month and the ICE share decline.

 

Price being equal, consumers choose EV.

Thais will choose EVs until the whole life costs, including residual values and costs of repairs/battery replacement are factored in and become reality.

 

Whilst ICE vehicles typically have a lifespan up to 30/40 years in Thailand as they don’t rust much and parts are easily available, it remains to be seen how long EVs can be reasonably maintained. 
 

EV maintenance cannot be carried out without specialised training and facilities, which may not suit non-dealer garages. Expect high labour charges at franchises, as well as expensive/unavailable parts to be the norm.

8 hours ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

So it continues. Subaru pulling out, Suzuki pulling out, Mitsubishi lay-offs, and now Honda downsizing.

The Chinese cheap EV revolution is under-cutting the Japanese markets.

When they are gone China will dictate the auto market

I hope that the Chinese drive for electric motor vehicles does not follow their domestic property boom...

 

Interesting up here in the frozen north, there is a very significant power line infrastructure project going on, bringing power in from Laos, where (extremely dirty) brown coal deposits are to be exploited to produce electricity. Apparently one significant demand for such power comes from increased numbers of EVs.

26 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

The Chinese cheap EV revolution is under-cutting the Japanese markets.

When they are gone China will dictate the auto market

A welcome change from JP dictating things ... 

3 minutes ago, herfiehandbag said:

I hope that the Chinese drive for electric motor vehicles does not follow their domestic property boom...

 

Interesting up here in the frozen north, there is a very significant power line infrastructure project going on, bringing power in from Laos, where (extremely dirty) brown coal deposits are to be exploited to produce electricity. Apparently one significant demand for such power comes from increased numbers of EVs.

 

70% of power generated in Laos is Hydroelectric.

41 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

The Chinese cheap EV revolution is under-cutting the Japanese markets.

When they are gone China will dictate the auto market

 

The Japanese have dictated the Thai auto market for decades, they have been complacent.  They should have embraced EV's.

10 hours ago, Tropicalevo said:

Another manufacturer having to down-size, fed up with taxes, continual threats of increased wages and utilities and competition from the 'favoured' Chinese. An unstable. 'flip flopping' government does not give them confidence either.

How can a business do a three or a five year plan here now.

People forget that many large companies came to Thailand because of low costs and incentives.

I agree... First chevy, isuzu, now honda. Surely the cause is not EV cars. There are not that many on the road and even less charging points. The government can twist the reasons to anything they want but i think it has a lot to do with the fact that there is no money for people to buy expensive products now. Chinese products are cheap but you get what you pay for as well. In the years to come that will be shown and proven. 

45 minutes ago, Classic Ray said:

Thais will choose EVs until the whole life costs, including residual values and costs of repairs/battery replacement are factored in and become reality.

 

Whilst ICE vehicles typically have a lifespan up to 30/40 years in Thailand as they don’t rust much and parts are easily available, it remains to be seen how long EVs can be reasonably maintained. 
 

EV maintenance cannot be carried out without specialised training and facilities, which may not suit non-dealer garages. Expect high labour charges at franchises, as well as expensive/unavailable parts to be the norm.

 

Speculation.

 

Studies have shown the average battery will outlast the car.

 

BYD's have an 8 year servicing and warranty.  That's plenty of time for a non-dealer network to develop.

1 minute ago, thesetat2013 said:

I agree... First chevy, isuzu, now honda. Surely the cause is not EV cars. There are not that many on the road and even less charging points. The government can twist the reasons to anything they want but i think it has a lot to do with the fact that there is no money for people to buy expensive products now. Chinese products are cheap but you get what you pay for as well. In the years to come that will be shown and proven. 

 

UBS paid engineers to strip down a BYD Seal and report on it's quality.

 

They reported to the German auto makers that the quality was excellent on a par with German cars and they were a generation ahead of the Germans.  Quality is a non-issue.

15 minutes ago, JBChiangRai said:

 

70% of power generated in Laos is Hydroelectric.

Yes but these power lines are for a new supply, you can see them all along the bypass around the airport. Now I know little about electricity ( red to red and black to black, switch it on and stand well back, that's me!) but a retired New Zealand electrical engineer tells me that: A) they are very high voltage, and B) the electricity they are being built to convey comes from this brown coal source.

5 minutes ago, JBChiangRai said:

Studies have shown the average battery will outlast the car.

Unless it catches fir.

1 hour ago, JBChiangRai said:

The writing on the wall has been “EV” for many years. You can’t fix Stupid and the Japanese have been that with a capital S.

 

February through June this year has seen the EV share of vehicles increase every month and the ICE share decline.

 

Price being equal, consumers choose EV.

 

wow. dumb

47 minutes ago, Classic Ray said:

Thais will choose EVs until the whole life costs, including residual values and costs of repairs/battery replacement are factored in and become reality.

 

Whilst ICE vehicles typically have a lifespan up to 30/40 years in Thailand as they don’t rust much and parts are easily available, it remains to be seen how long EVs can be reasonably maintained. 
 

EV maintenance cannot be carried out without specialised training and facilities, which may not suit non-dealer garages. Expect high labour charges at franchises, as well as expensive/unavailable parts to be the norm.

BYD manufacture all their own parts in house so are not reliant on external supply chains. Presumably, they will set up trained dealerships throughout the country to support their brand.

I am not promoting BYD or EVs over ICE but they do appear to have advantages over other brands. 

1 minute ago, herfiehandbag said:

Yes but these power lines are for a new supply, you can see them all along the bypass around the airport. Now I know little about electricity ( red to red and black to black, switch it on and stand well back, that's me!) but a retired New Zealand electrical engineer tells me that: A) they are very high voltage, and B) the electricity they are being built to convey comes from this brown coal source.

 

There is 3.6 Gw of wind power coming online in Laos too,

 

1 minute ago, Tropicalevo said:

Unless it catches fir.

 

Statistics say EV's catch fire between 11 and 130 times less than ICE cars.

3 minutes ago, PETERTHEEATER said:

BYD manufacture all their own parts in house so are not reliant on external supply chains. Presumably, they will set up trained dealerships throughout the country to support their brand.

I am not promoting BYD or EVs over ICE but they do appear to have advantages over other brands. 

 

Even a little hick town like Chiang Rai has 2 BYD showrooms and service centers.  You see EV's everywhere here.

9 minutes ago, JBChiangRai said:

 

The Japanese have dictated the Thai auto market for decades, they have been complacent.  They should have embraced EV's.

I doubt that the Chinese are complacent. They are very competent business operators, they will have taken a long hard look at the pros and cons of investing long term in EVs as the future technology, and have decided to be cautious. They know their markets, and they will be particularly aware that here cars are bought over long term finance. EVs, specifically batteries, are, in the long term an unknown quantity.

10 minutes ago, JBChiangRai said:

 

UBS paid engineers to strip down a BYD Seal and report on it's quality.

 

They reported to the German auto makers that the quality was excellent on a par with German cars and they were a generation ahead of the Germans.  Quality is a non-issue.

I am stunned. However, anyone who knows how Chinese manufactures work would know recall that unless standards are set and met and checked regularly, then the production quality will decrease. Perhaps poor battery quality or some other expensive issue. China sells its best to 1st world countries. Even better than they sell to their own people in China. With even less quality to other Asian nations. Like I said, you get what you pay for. 

6 minutes ago, herfiehandbag said:

I doubt that the Chinese are complacent. They are very competent business operators, they will have taken a long hard look at the pros and cons of investing long term in EVs as the future technology, and have decided to be cautious. They know their markets, and they will be particularly aware that here cars are bought over long term finance. EVs, specifically batteries, are, in the long term an unknown quantity.

 

1 minute ago, thesetat2013 said:

I am stunned. However, anyone who knows how Chinese manufactures work would know recall that unless standards are set and met and checked regularly, then the production quality will decrease. Perhaps poor battery quality or some other expensive issue. China sells its best to 1st world countries. Even better than they sell to their own people in China. With even less quality to other Asian nations. Like I said, you get what you pay for. 

 

In the case of BYD, they were originally a battery maker.  Most people who understand batteries agree that BYD's blade battery is a leap forward in technology.

 

BYD and Tesla are a bit different.  They both looked at the market and thought outside the box about how to do it better.  Tesla have the lowest cycle time of any auto maker peaking at 38 seconds, Ford previously set the record at 53 seconds.

 

BYD looked and noticed that 70% of a car's parts are outsourced from OEM's and BYD decided to make their own parts and it's entirely the other way around in a BYD.  They even make the semiconductors in the computers/inverters etc.  This is the reason that they have much higher margins and sell so cheaply.

 

Look at it like this.  Toyota announces their new Camry is AWD, silent, has a 5 litre twin turbo engine with over 500hp, uses a quarter of the fuel of its 2 litre version and comes with 8 years free servicing and warranty, not only that, but it is also 15% to 20% cheaper.  I have just described a BYD Seal Performance.

 

We are not witnessing the usual incremental increase in quality, price and every other metric.  We are witnessing a revolution.

1 hour ago, Classic Ray said:

EV maintenance cannot be carried out without specialised training and facilities, which may not suit non-dealer garages. Expect high labour charges at franchises, as well as expensive/unavailable parts to be the norm.

 

The voice of experience? 

 

Teslas don’t need to be serviced and so don’t have a servicing requirement.

 

My BYD has servicing requirement but it’s free for 8 years! 

 

I watched the last service and it consisted of checking the torque setting on some of the bolts.

 

My 2 EVs run a full system check every time you switch them on and report on any problems. So far the only problem being reported is low tire pressure, a problem I was able to fix myself without

 

1 hour ago, Classic Ray said:

specialised training and facilities

 

I don't drive anymore, they took away my car licence at the doctor's insistence after my injury and the subsequent infections led to balance issues - although bizarrely they let me keep my motorbike licence.

 

However my daughter has just started at the Chiang Rai Rajjabhat University, and the Bank of Daddy was required to provide transport. I looked into an electric scooter, visited a couple of dealers, several more online and most importantly talked to several people who had bought them. Crucially, dealers were reluctant to answer questions on range and battery life, online dealers didn't like questions at all, and the users all reported that over 6 months to a year battery life and range dropped significantly. 

 

It has to last 4 years (or more), and I am paying over 2 years. Yamaha San got my custom with his latest scooter design. So if you see a pretty western looking girl with reddish hair and a stud in her nose (grumble grumble) whizzing about Chiang Rai on a jolly smart black Yamaha scooter, that's my girl! If she is not wearing a crash helmet tell me!

 

Evs are for sheeple who buy the hype and only drive to Big C and 7-11..

3 minutes ago, herfiehandbag said:

I don't drive anymore, they took away my car licence at the doctor's insistence after my injury and the subsequent infections led to balance issues - although bizarrely they let me keep my motorbike licence.

 

However my daughter has just started at the Chiang Rai Rajjabhat University, and the Bank of Daddy was required to provide transport. I looked into an electric scooter, visited a couple of dealers, several more online and most importantly talked to several people who had bought them. Crucially, dealers were reluctant to answer questions on range and battery life, online dealers didn't like questions at all, and the users all reported that over 6 months a year battery life and range dropped significantly. 

 

It has to last 4 years (or more), and I am paying over 2 years. Yamaha San got my custom with his latest scooter design. So if you see a pretty western looking girl with reddish air and a stud in her nose (grumble grumble) whizzing about Chiang Rai on a jolly smart black Yamaha scooter, that's my girl!

 

 

Decent electric scooters are not available in Chiang Rai.  You have to order online and you're look at 40-60,000 baht.

 

The ones you can buy here have lead-acid batteries that probably only last a year.  Deco is a good brand with Lithium batteries, but not stocked here in Chiang Rai.

Just now, redwood1 said:

Evs are for sheeple who buy hype and only drive to Big C and 7-11..

 

I drive to Chiang Mai regularly and have gone as far as Kamphaeng Phet.  I prefer to fly long distance even though the silent ride and lack of NVH means I arrive much fresher in my EV than in an ICE.

1 hour ago, KhunLA said:

A welcome change from JP dictating things ... 

Except when JP cars are a few years old they can be easily and relatively cheaply serviced.

Ev buyers will have a wake-up call in a few years time when things start to fail.

1 hour ago, herfiehandbag said:

I doubt that the Chinese are complacent. They are very competent business operators, they will have taken a long hard look at the pros and cons of investing long term in EVs as the future technology, and have decided to be cautious. They know their markets, and they will be particularly aware that here cars are bought over long term finance. EVs, specifically batteries, are, in the long term an unknown quantity.

My bad, of course I meant Japanese

22 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

Except when JP cars are a few years old they can be easily and relatively cheaply serviced.

Ev buyers will have a wake-up call in a few years time when things start to fail.

A few is more like 10 years, and at that point, I would have gotten my money's worth out of our EV.  No different than JP badged car.   But get to drive a more comfy and better performing car during that time, at a fraction of the operating & maintenance cost.  So much more enjoyable, that I actually use more and get O&A more.   That alone is priceless.

 

And if battery can be adapted to the solar system, then that's worth it alone.   At 50% capacity, that's a ฿200k baht value itself.

 

I do expect our BEV to last much longer than 10 years.   I was glad to get rid of all our JP badged cars at the 7 yr / 125-150k kms mark.  Except for the less expensive buy in, since not truly knowing I was going to stay in TH, that is the only advantage of those POSs.

 

The extra ฿200k for the E version of our ICE version of the ZS was well worth it.  And <฿200k more than the the top end JP badged crap made here, isn't even a thought.  Money well spent.