The BEV market: short-term belongs to players with readiness, in the long- term...who will be the winner?

         Presently, competition in the domestic automobile market, particularly the BEV market, has changed significantly. Following Thailand’s attempts to open up investment to sustain as much of the domestic automotive industry as possible, including accelerated support to the BEV market from this year to 2025, the Thai BEV market immediately becomes more active. This brings closer the forecast made by KResearch in early 2022 that BEV sales this year may reach approximately 10,000 units and will accelerate in the future.

        In the four years that the government will be taking the above mentioned measures to support the BEV market, it will present a significant opportunity for BEV manufacturers to actively market their products in response to rapidly growing consumer demand. Automakers that currently have BEVs such as Chinese automakers and local auto manufacturers working with Chinese car brands have speeded up their marketing to gain market share first and promote brand awareness. Likewise, Western car brands are preparing to enter the Thai car market with prices that may come down and compete with Japanese BEVs priced close to THB2 million.  Japanese automakers that hold the market lead, while still focusing on generating sales revenue from hybrid cars because most buyers are still concerned about using a BEV, are ready to find the right time to enter the BEV market before a new and formidable competitor with consumer acceptance emerges.

        KResearch views that while the BEV market share may be dominated by the players that are ready to launch BEVs in the short-term, the market share may change in the long-term as the BEV market is still new to Thailand and the world, and BEV technology is changing and evolving rapidly. Additionally, Thai car buyers consider several factors before making a purchase such as after-sales service, auto parts supplies, prices in the second-hand car market, etc. In the long run, car manufacturers that can meet these requirements will have the opportunity to gain more market share. We may see the long-term car rental market shift to the use of BEVs first, after the current transition to carbon neutral targets being made by various organizations. Furthermore, future trends in car ownership may change. The long-term lease car market will likely expand widely into the retail tenant market, which will result in rapid growth of the BEV market for this group.