Electric Car Sales in Thailand in 2023 Will Increase 6x, BYD Becomes the Best Selling
Sales of battery-based electric cars (BEV) in Thailand throughout 2023 managed to record a fantastic figure of 76,314 units.
Total sales also experienced a very rapid increase, namely 684.4% compared to BEV sales for the 2022 period which was only 9,729 units.
The high sales of electric cars in Thailand also managed to contribute 12.02 percent of all new car sales in the country during the January-December 2023 period, reaching 634,948 units.
Among the high interest in electric cars in Thailand, vehicles from Chinese brands continue to dominate, such as BYD, NETA, ORA, and MG.
BYD Best Selling Electric Car in Thailand
Of the total sales of electric cars, the BYD Atto 3 was again the most purchased EV last year in the country.
Atto 3 was recorded as having successfully sold 19,214 units from January to December last year.
In December 2023, BYD's electric car only sold 721 units, but from January to November, sales were always above 1,000 units and even more than 2 thousand units in May.
In second place the best-selling electric car in the White Elephant Country is the NETA V, which was also recently officially sold in Indonesia.
NETA posted sales for the NETA V for the January - December 2023 period of 12,777 units, or around 6,400 units less than the Atto 3.
Meanwhile, the third position is occupied by BYD Dolphin with an extraordinary achievement because it managed to achieve sales of 9,410 units.
Even though BYD officially started selling the Dolphin in Thailand in August 2023, this means that in just 5 months, almost 10,000 BYD Dolphin units have been selling well in the Thai BEV market.
Wuling Air ev from Indonesia Steals Attention
There are also interesting things to note about electric car sales in this neighboring country. Even though it only ranks 16th, demand for the Wuling Air EV made in Indonesia continues to increase.
Only officially sold in October 2023, the small electric car has already sold 491 units with sales continuing to rise every month.
List of best-selling electric cars in Thailand for the period 2023
- BYD Atto 3: 19,214 units
- NETA V: 12,777 units
- BYD Dolphin: 9,410 units
- ORA Good Paint: 6,712 cars
- Tesla Model Y: 5,881 units
- MG 4 EV: 4,833 units
- MG EP: 4,475 units
- Tesla Model 3: 2,324 units
- BYD Seal: 1,810 units
- MG ZS EV 1,753 units
- Volvo XC40 EV: 1,067 units
- MG ES: 916 units
- MG Maxus 9: 787 units
- Volvo C40: 761 units
- BMW iX3: 753 units
- Wuling Air ev: 491 units
- BMW iX: 439 units
- Volt City EV: 405 units
- Porsche Taycan: 243 units
- MINI Cooper SE Electric: 205 units
Incentives Drive Electric Car Sales Growth in Thailand
One of the factors for the high sales of BEV electric cars in Thailand is the provision of subsidies and other incentives.
The local government has issued quite a number of new regulations which make the selling price of electric cars the same as conventional engine cars or even cheaper.
Throughout 2023, the subsidy value for electric cars per unit will be 70,000-150,000 baht depending on the battery capacity.
For passenger vehicles that use batteries with a capacity of 10-30 kWh, a subsidy of 70,000 baht per unit or approximately IDR 31 million is given.
Meanwhile, for passenger vehicles that use batteries with a capacity of more than 30 kWh, they will receive a subsidy worth 150,000 baht/unit.
Then the Thai government also provides incentives for electric commercial vehicles produced locally and using batteries with a capacity of more than 30 kWh, with a subsidy amount of IDR 66 million.
Apart from that, there are also regulations for manufacturers who import electric cars to Thailand, they must limit the number of imports and divert them to local production.
Because of this, more and more Chinese brands are starting to produce electric cars in Thailand.
Best selling electric car brands in Thailand for 2023:
- BYD: 30,650 units
- NETA: 12,777 units
- MG: 12,764 units
- TESLA: 8,206 units
- Great Wall Motors: 6,746 cars
