Chery behind new govt-backed Thailand National EV Brand – pick-up truck, SUV, MPV to debut this year

Here’s an interesting development from our northern neighbour. Thailand will soon have a ‘national EV brand’ if all things go to plan. The ‘Thai National EV brand’ is backed by the government’s Ministry of Commerce, and the carmaker providing the tech and basis is Chery.

The other parties involved are the country’s National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA) and King Gen. The latter is described by the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) as a logistics and transportation business.

According to Autolifethailand, the JV, which is yet to have its own name, will launch three fully-electric models by the end of 2025 – they are a pick-up truck, an MPV and an SUV. The cars from the EV brand will have over 50% local content.

“Chery Automobile, a global leader in automotive technology, and Omoda & Jaecoo have collaborated with the Ministry of Commerce to develop a Thai electric vehicle brand to elevate the Thai automotive industry to become an EV production hub in the ASEAN region,” Chery said.

“This collaboration aims to develop Thailand’s national EV brand, promote domestic EV technology capabilities, and support domestic parts manufacturers to enter the global supply chain, focusing on sales in Thailand, highlighting the strengths of EV technology and affordable prices for Thai consumers,” the company added.

Of course, there will be tax incentives for the ‘national EV brand’, with this being a project backed by the Thai government. Fleet purchases as well, we predict. Sounds familiar? Malaysia has Proton, which is 49% owned by Chery’s compatriot Geely, and legacy PIES models aside, all of Proton’s current products are based on Geelys.

Is 50% local content significant? We’re guessing that the Japanese carmakers, which have operated out of Thailand for decades and have an extensive local vendor network, surpass this level by a fair bit.

In Malaysia, Perodua models typically have well over 90% local content – for instance, the Ativa had 95% local content – at launch – even though the SUV is a joint project with Toyota and Daihatsu. Proton’s local content ratio for its Geely-based models are closer to Chery’s mooted 50%, and the eMas 7 is a CBU import from China.

This development fits in perfectly with Chery’s plans, which already includes a seven-seat MPV, a seven-seat SUV and a pick-up-truck in an upcoming ‘M Series’ of vehicles, as we revealed here. At the recent Auto Shanghai 2025 show, the Wuhu-based carmaker launched its Himla pick-up truck brand. This trio could very well be the three models earmarked for the Thai national EV brand. Sounds like Toyota’s super successful IMV project with the Hilux, Fortuner and Innova.

By the way, this isn’t Thailand’s first stab at a local EV venture. In 2022, state-owned energy group PTT and Taiwan’s Foxconn (a.k.a. Hon Hai Precision Industry, a major Apple supplier/contract manufacturer) started a JV to produce EVs, but that has petered out with the withdrawal of PTT last year. Today’s deal is way more legit though – it’s backed by the government directly and is driven by Chery, which ain’t no start-up. Indonesia also wants to pursue something like this, with Geely.

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