Sales of Chinese BEVs set to exceed 10,000 units in 2022 amid gloomy domestic car market (Current Issue No.3319)

New supportive measures introduced by the government have substantially helped bolster the Thai BEV market. Intense competition has quickly been seen in the BEV market as Chinese carmakers capitalized on the timing, when mainstream carmakers were unprepared, to seize their share of the BEV market via a number of strengths, namely product selection for market penetration and setting up of attractive prices to induce more buyers. KResearch views that Chinese carmakers will likely be able to command up to 80 percent of the overall Thai BEV market share, with total sales of more than 10,000 BEVs in 2022. Western carmakers will enjoy the second largest share of the BEV market, thanks to their affluent buyers and the expansion of charging stations. Meanwhile, Japanese car companies have little time to market their products as they are market latecomers.     

The overall domestic car market in 2022 will be plagued by a shortage of auto-parts due to the Russia-Ukraine war. KResearch preliminarily expects that domestic car sales may reach approximately 825,000 units, an increase of 8.7 percent YoY. The figure may fall to 800,000 units, an increase of 5.4 percent YoY if the Russia-Ukraine conflict persists. However, if the shortage of auto-parts eases quickly, domestic car sales may be higher than those estimates. It is expected that 2022 sales of pick-up trucks will overtake those of passenger cars due to fewer problems related to the shortage of auto-parts and the government’s diesel fuel subsidy, aimed at easing the impact of skyrocketing oil prices on the overall economy.