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Vietnam Sluggish Auto Sales Hit Major Motorshow

Christellee — Sun, 12 May 2024 11:22:52 +0000

Luxury brands Mercedes, Lexus, Audi, and BMW along with Kia, Hyundai and VinFast, reportedly will not participate in this year’s Vietnam Motor Show, the country’s biggest auto event, in October.

Vietnam Express reported Audi prefers to participate in more exclusive and luxurious events, Ferry Enders, its CEO for Vietnam, said at the launch of a new showroom in HCMC’s District 7 in March 2024. Lexus expressed it has different business strategies every year, and this year they include not participating in the event. Mercedes has not explained its absence.

Other major brands to not participate are Mini, Kia, Mazda, and Peugeot, all manufactured and distributed in Vietnam by Thaco. VinFast, Nissan and Jeep have also opted out.

11 companies have confirmed their participation: Ford, GAC, Honda, Isuzu, Mitsubishi, Skoda, Subaru, Suzuki, Toyota, Volkswagen and Volvo. Surprisingly, three motorbike brands, Honda, SYM and Yamaha will also take part.

Last year the Vietnam Motor Show was cancelled due to falling demand for cars in the country. The annual event is usually organised in October to boost sales during the year-end season.

Auto brands have been introducing new models at lower prices than their predecessors to boost demand. South Korea’s Hyundai launched the 2024 MPV Stargazer at prices starting at VND489 million (US$19,210), down 15% from the previous 2022 model.

However, it boasts more advanced technology with wireless charging for smartphones, electronic brakes, forward collision waring, and lane assist. Toyota announced a 4.6% cut in the prices of its 2024 Corolla Cross SUV to VD820 million (US$32,200). It has received many new upgrades in technology and safety systems including a larger entertainment monitor and reverse brake assist.

Germany’s Volkswagen is selling its special edition of the SUV Teramont starting at VND2.5 billion (US$98,200), down 12% from the 2021 version. Mazda, assembled in Vietnam by Thaco, is selling its CX-5 at VND749 million (US$29,400), down 10% from the previous model.

“The key is to claim more market share. Amid a slow market, customers prefer affordable products. Prices determine the number of buyers,” the manager of a Japanese auto dealership in HCMC said to explain why prices are being lowered.

Other industry insiders said by lowering prices companies are able to reduce their inventories, thus cutting storage costs. Higher sales also mean they are able to pay their bank loans faster. Last year auto sales plummeted by 25% to 369,400 units with most brands suffering double-digit declines. In Q1 2024, the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association posted a decline of 18% to 58,200 units.

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Thailand Is Turning Into Regional Frontrunner In Electric Vehicle (EV), From Luxury Cars To Tuk-Tuks

Christellee — Mon, 13 Jun 2022 04:00:02 +0000

BANGKOK, (PRNewswire) — By the end of 2022, a fully-electric Mercedes-EQS will roll off a production line in Bangkok to mark another milestone in Thailand’s remarkable journey from conventional automaking hub to regional frontrunner in electric vehicle (EV) production, according to an article published by the country’s Board of Investment (BOI).

By Thailand Board of Investment (BOI)

The German luxury carmaker not only chose Thailand as its first location in Southeast Asia to manufacture the trail-blazing EQS, but also selected the Kingdom as one of only seven locations in the world to produce the high-performance lithium-ion batteries that can power the vehicle for more than 700 kilometers on a single charge, the article said.

“This shows how important Thailand is to us,” the article quoted Roland Folger, President & CEO of Mercedes-Benz’s Thai business, as saying in an interview. “The EQS is the absolute highlight of our full battery vehicles – the topmost as far as technology is concerned. In Thailand, we have partners we know can deliver.“

The emergence of Thailand, the world’s 10th biggest auto manufacturer in 2021, as an EV hub has been fast-tracked by highly favorable government policies that comprehensively incentivize both investors in the EV sector’s supply chain and car buyers, the article said. The BOI offers 3-11 years of tax holidays for EV production of all types, including BEV platforms. The BOI also grants investment incentives for EV-related infrastructure, especially charging stations, to accelerate the growth of the domestic market for EVs.

Investors appear to be taking note. During the first quarter of 2022, investment pledges in the automotive and parts sector more than quadrupled from a year earlier to the equivalent of $1.2 billion, BOI data shows. Auto giants including Toyota Motor Corp of Japan, as well as Great Wall Motor and SAIC Motor of China have also signed up for a government incentive plan to promote EV sales and production in Thailand, under which the government is offering subsidies of between $2,000 and $4,400 per vehicle depending on the model and battery capacity.

Thailand, Southeast Asia’s second largest economy with a population of 70 million, is also attracting heavyweight newcomers determined to cash in on the EV revolution. Foxconn Technology Group, the world’s biggest contract electronics company that’s best known as a maker of Apple iPhones, has chosen Thailand as one of its first two locations in the world to build EVs.

Foxconn has partnered with Thailand’s state-owned oil and gas giant, PTT – one of the world’s largest energy companies — to form a joint venture enterprise, HORIZON PLUS, that plans to invest between $1 and $2 billion to build finished cars for other manufacturers using a modular platform and software developed by Foxconn. With production due to start in 2024, the partners plan by 2030 to be manufacturing between 150,000 and 200,000 vehicles annually in Thailand’s high-tech Eastern Economic Corridor.

Home-grown Thai entrepreneurs are already building electric vehicles and developing the infrastructure to power them. Energy Absolute, a listed Thai company with a market value of $10 billion, is selling electric buses and boats, has an electric car ready to launch and is building what to date is the country’s biggest network of charging stations.

Other local companies, including startup MuvMi and long-established water transportation operator Chao Phraya Express Boat Co., are replacing the country’s iconic but previously heavily polluting “tuk-tuk” auto rickshaws and diesel-powered fast river boats with emission-free electric versions.

Such is the rate of change that the Thai government estimates that by 2030 – just eight years from now – 30 percent of all autos manufactured in Thailand will be electric. That would mean 750,000 out of the 2.5 million it is expected to produce for local and international markets that year. Of that 750,000, half will be BEVs, the article said. Thailand is setting equally aggressive targets for the infrastructure required to support its zero-emission ambitions. The government estimates that some 900 public quick chargers have already sprung up throughout the country. That figure is forecast to rise to 4,400 public quick chargers by 2025, 12,000 by 2030 and 36,500 by 2035.

Today PTT, a Fortune 500 company majority owned by Thailand’s Finance Ministry and once synonymous only with oil and gas, is not only developing clean energy cars with Foxconn, but also making major investments in battery research and development, EV charging stations and an EV car rental platform. “We think that every step we move is more benefit to the world and to Thai society,” the article quoted Dr Buranin Rattanasombat, PTT’s Senior Executive Vice President for Innovation and New Ventures, as saying. “Our cooperation with Foxconn will be an important driving force in the development of the EV value chain in Thailand.”

Elliot Zhang, President of Great Wall Motors’ (GWM) business in ASEAN, says the region is one of the most important markets in the world for China’s largest manufacturer of SUVs. Hence Great Wall’s decision in 2020 to acquire an auto production plant in Thailand formerly owned by General Motors.

“Thailand has superior geographical advantages, complete industrial supply chain and sufficient reserve of talented personnel,” the article quoted Zhang as saying. The locally produced Haval H6 hybrid SUV and ORA Good Cat BEV model, initially imported from China, successfully debuted in Thailand last year. “We are confident that all these strengths will enable our strategy to build Thailand as the R&D and manufacturing hub of GWM in the ASEAN region.”

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BMW And Mercedes Put Autonomous Drive Collaboration On Hold Due To COVID-19

Asia Pacific Metalworking Equipment News — Mon, 29 Jun 2020 08:56:42 +0000

The BMW Group and Mercedes-Benz AG are putting their cooperation on development of next-generation technology for autonomous driving temporarily on hold.

Following this news, David Leggett, Automotive Analyst at GlobalData, offered his view:

“The two companies cited the cost of developing a new next generation shared autonomous drive technology platform, as well as current business and economic conditions, as reasons for putting the cooperation on hold.

The technology for fully driverless vehicles is expensive and difficult to develop and as the COVID-19 crisis continues to decimate industry sales, the immediate focus for car companies is on core activity, surviving and being competitive for the ‘new normal’ conditions ahead.

For now, BMW and Mercedes will continue with their separate current generation advanced driving assistance systems (ADAS) technologies and shelve the more ambitious collaboration – while not completely closing the door on returning to it at a later date.

They will also keep options open to work with others outside the traditional automotive eco-system as the industry and transportation space is transformed over the next decade.

The COVID-19 crisis is forcing re-evaluations of company priorities and strategies, especially future investment commitments. For many in the industry, the huge sums involved in some advanced technologies – such as automated drive – are simply not justifiable in current market conditions.”

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Germans Already Going With Asian Batteries

admin — Fri, 31 Aug 2018 08:20:51 +0000

Global automakers plan to invest at least $90 billion in electric cars and batteries, the most expensive component in the vehicles, to finance hundreds of new models over the next five years.

Electric and hybrid vehicles are expected to account for 30 percent of the global auto market by 2030, according to metal consultants CRU, up from 4 percent of the 86 million vehicles sold last year.

For now, carmakers in Europe have been importing batteries from Asia, but as production ramps up that will become less viable. Setting up production in Europe would cut shipping costs by a quarter, consultancy P3 Group.

But some carmakers are not waiting for a European industry, instead signing contracts with Asian firms coming to the region. German’s BMW said it was not involved in the European alliance while Europe’s biggest automaker, Volkswagen, said it plans to get batteries from LG Chem’s Polish factory due to open this year. Mercedes maker Daimler has awarded a contract to CATL.

The European Commission’s plan calls for 110 million euros in battery related research, help for projects from a 2.7 billion euro EU innovation fund and the development of an EU “green battery” trademark. Supporters of the initiative argue Europe can carve out a niche by selling green batteries produced with renewable energy and ethically sourced raw materials.

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