Bang on after a month we ran the story of the Guangzhou Automoble Corporation (GAC)'s electric vehicle (EV) brand, Aion, foraying into Thailand, the first model by the marque has been spotted there and it's the GAC Aion Y Plus.

These set of photos by Sun Benjavitvilai show the crossover that has its sights firmly on the likes of the BYD Atto 3 and MG ZS EVs, having similar dimensions to boot. Specs for Thailand haven't been ascertained just yet, but in its home market of China there's three variants to choose from:

• Standard Range: 136 PS/176 Nm, 51.9 kWh LFPbattery, 400 km range (NEDC)
• Standard Range Plus: 204 PS/225 Nm, 61.7 kWh LFP battery, 480 km range (NEDC)
• Long Range: 204 PS/225 Nm, 69.9 kWh ternary lithium battery, 580 km range (NEDC)

These ranges put it within fighting distance - and beating - the Atto 3 (410 km to 480 km, NEDC), and the ZS EV (403 km, NEDC).

Also read: GAC's Aion EV brand gears up against BYD in ASEAN; set to make Thailand as regional headquarters

Earlier this year, GAC Aion outlined their plans to invest a whopping THB 6.4 billion (~RM 839 billion) into the country, a massive investment that also includes a plant in Rayong province that is capable of manufacturing 100,000 units of the brand's BEVs for both domestic and international markets.

Consequently GAC Aion has been quite competitive and has grown very quickly indeed, shooting up to being the third top-selling EV brand in China after BYD and Tesla, only within 5 years of incorporation.

Meanwhile in Malaysia, GAC's presence here is via Tan Chong group's WTC Automotif, offering just one model for the time being: the GAC GS3. An all-new, CKD version is set to be sold here come 2024.

Also read: GAC's EV-only marque Aion outsells Tesla for the first time ever, continues upward momentum