2022 Ora Good Cat sales put on hold in Thailand and it's all Putin's fault

Thailand buyers seem to be very accepting of the 2022 Ora Good Cat with it netting over 10,000 bookings in just a week. The cool electric cat car is poised to snatch the best-selling EV title in the Kingdom in 2022 from the MG ZS EV but it seems to hit a snag thanks to a selfish war happening thousands of kilometres away.

Ora’s parent company, Great Wall Motors (GWM) Thailand has announced on its website that it will be pausing further reservations for the Good Cat indefinitely starting today (20-April).

The reason for the postponement of sale is due to the chip and battery shortage which is affected by the ongoing COVID-19 situation which saw a spike of cases in China as well as the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Also read: Russia-Ukraine conflict cuts supply of raw materials to BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, VW

GWM Thailand has said that it has 3,500 bookings pending delivery and is doing its best to accelerate the gradual delivery of the Good Cat to these customers. GWM assures that it is working closely with key suppliers and partners for the best solution to deliver the vehicles as soon as possible.

The Good Cat is available in Thailand with 3 variants – the 400 Tech, 500 Pro, and 500 Ultra which start from THB 989,000 – 1,199,000 (~RM 126,600 – 153,500). The number on the trims denotes the maximum range.

Also read: Review: Ora Good Cat – Affordable Porsche EV look-alike? Here’s what the Thai media says

The Good Cat is fully imported (CBU) from China but GWM has made plans to assemble them in Thailand (CKD). With sales for the Good Cat on pause, could this affect the potential relaunch of GWM and Haval in Malaysia?

Also read: GWM Thailand confirms CKD plans EVs, Ora Good Cat nets 10k bookings in 7 days

Sources close to Go Auto, the Malaysian distributors of GWM, have told WapCar that there is a relaunch planned in June 2022 which could see the arrival of 4 new models including the Haval H6, Haval Jolion (renamed as the H2 in Malaysia), the GWM Pao, and the Ora Good Cat. If you're keen to see the Good Cat up close, there is one on display at Go Auto's Genmarie showroom.

Also read: Up close and purr-sonal with the Ora Good Cat, the EV that will revolutionise Malaysians?