What’s new: Chinese lithium-ion battery-maker SVOLT Energy Technology Co. Ltd. has kicked off the construction of its Thailand factory, the company said Wednesday.
The company expects to complete construction by the end of the year and estimates the facility will have an annual capacity of 60,000 battery packs, according to a statement .
The factory will have two production lines, one for making soft-pack battery packs for hybrid vehicles and another for short-blade battery packs used in plug-in hybrids and pure electric-vehicles (EVs), the company said.
The background: Changzhou-based SVOLT, which was spun off by Great Wall Motor Co. Ltd. in 2018, is currently planning a 15 billion yuan ($2 billion) initial public offering on Shanghai’s Nasdaq-like STAR Market.
The firm’s entry into Thailand follows a handful of Chinese EV-makers also expanding into the Southeast Asian country in recent years.
Great Wall Motor, SAIC Motor Corp. Ltd. and BYD Co. Ltd. have all established production lines in Thailand, which is the third -largest auto market in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region after Indonesia and Malaysia, according to 2022 passenger car sales figures released by the ASEAN Automotive Federation.
Related: In Depth: China’s EV Battery Boom Goes Bust
Contact reporter Kelsey Cheng (kelseycheng@caixin.com) and editor Jonathan Breen (jonathanbreen@caixin.com)
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