China’s share in Thailand’s new-auto market more than doubled to 11% in 2023 as electric-vehicle powerhouses like BYD weakened Japanese automakers’ grip.
Thai sales of passenger cars and commercial vehicles totaled 775,780 units, down 9% on the year, according to nationwide data announced by Toyota Motor’s Thai subsidiary on Thursday. This includes companies outside the Toyota group.
The total market share of Chinese automakers grew around 6 points.
BYD sold about 30,000 units, expanding its market share to just under 4%. The EV maker entered the Thai market in November 2022 and sold only around 300 units that year. It now ranks sixth in the country, ahead of Nissan Motor and Mazda Motor, and plans to begin production by the end of the year at a local factory it is building.
Great Wall Motor started producing EVs in Thailand this January. SAIC Motor unit MG Motor is expected to begin production here by year-end as well.
EV sales in Thailand reached 76,314 units in 2023, 7.8 times the previous year, according to Autolife Thailand. BYD ranked first, making up around 40% of EV sales. Chinese companies accounted for 80% or so of EV sales, while Japanese brands were at less than 1%.
Chinese players are expected to continue driving the adoption of EVs in Thailand, with a Great Wall executive pointing out that “local production of batteries, a core component, will help reduce costs.”
Meanwhile, Toyota suffered an 8% decrease in overall new-auto sales in Thailand. But it held on to its lead in market share, at 34%.
Second-place Isuzu Motors, with a 20% share, saw sales drop 29%. Mitsubishi Motors came in fifth, with a market share of 4%, and its sales sank 35%. Both Isuzu and Mitsubishi Motors struggled with sales of commercial pickup trucks.
Third-ranked Honda Motor, with a 12% market share, saw its overall auto sales increase 14%.
The total market share of Japanese automakers fell about 8 percentage points to 78% in 2023.
This article first appeared on Nikkei Asia. It has been republished here as part of 36Kr’s ongoing partnership with Nikkei.