Great Wall Motor (GWM), the parent company of Ora and Haval is finalising plans to invest up to USD 30 million (RM 140 million) to set up a new battery pack assembly plant in Thailand, reports Bangkok Post.

The Chinese carmaker is also considering setting up an R&D centre in the Kingdom to study the possibility of battery-powered pick-up trucks according to Narong Sritalayon, managing director of GWM Thailand.

GWM is looking to turn Thailand into a regional electric vehicle (EV) production hub and plans to start the local assembly of the Ora Good Cat in 2024. Thailand’s best-selling EV of 2022 is currently imported from China.

Also read: Ora Good Cat: Priced like a Honda City hybrid in Thailand but costs RM 25k more in Malaysia, this is the reason

Hence, GWM is seeking to source more components locally, including battery packs, to meet the Thai government’s requirements for local car assembly. Narong said in an interview that a pack assembly facility could require an investment of between THB 500 million to 1 billion (RM 66 mil-130 mil) depending on the plan.

For its upcoming local production, GWM Thailand has selected its subsidiary, SVOLT Energy Technology to produce the battery packs in the initial phase. The Thai-spec Good Cat currently uses a battery pack supplied by Chinese battery giant, CATL but GWM said it has no current plans to purchase batteries from the company for the Thai-assembled EVs.

Also read: GWM to start CKD in Malaysia from 2023; EVs in the pipeline, but Haval H6 and Pao pick-up looms closer

GWM currently has a plant in Rayong which it took over from General Motors in 2020. The plant currently produces the Haval H6 and Haval Jolion hybrid SUVs.

Back home in Malaysia, the fully-imported from China Ora Good Cat is available here in two variants:

• 400 Pro – RM 140,500
• 500 Ultra – RM 170.500

Also read: 18 photos of the eye-popping 2023 Ora Good Cat EV in Pistachio Green