Nissan considers Thailand as electric vehicle manufacturing hub
Japanese car maker Nissan, a mass market pioneer for electricity-powered vehicles with its Leaf model, has shortlisted Thailand to host its Asia-Pacific electric vehicle manufacturing facility, the Bangkok Post reported.
According to Yutaka Sanada, Nissan’s senior vice president for Asia-Pacific, Thailand is one of the key candidates for Nissan’s new electric vehicle facility because the company has already invested heavily in factories in Samut Prakan southeast of Bangkok. The facilities there now have a production capacity of 370,000 vehicles per annum.
Nissan also runs its research and development unit adjacent to the plant, called Nissan Technical Center Southeast Asia, its third outside of Japan and an R&D hub for ASEAN.
Currently, Nissan is conducting a feasibility study for its eco-friendly models in the ASEAN market, Sanada said.
“Once we see any acceleration of electric vehicles in Thailand or around the region, Nissan can localise production very quickly, so we are seriously considering applying for investment incentives,” he told the paper.
The two cars that could be built in the new facility would be Leaf EV and the Note e-Power, and later on other e-Power models which are equipped with Nissan’s latest eco-friendly technology that resembles a hybrid system powered by both a small battery and a gasoline engine. In any case, Nissan plans to introduce e-Power models in Thailand and Indonesia “as soon as possible.”
In ASEAN, Nissan owns production plants in Thailand and Indonesia, while it has assembly factories in Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Myanmar with partners.
While the popularity of electric vehicles is expected to accelerate in the region in the foreseeable future, Sanada said that one stumbling block for them taking off was insufficient infrastructure such as public charging stations.
However, a growing number of developers in Bangkok, for example, are already equipping parking lots of new condominium buildings with overnight charging stations, so the infrastructure issue could become a less pressing one over the coming years. There are also some gas stations at least in urban centers providing charging facilities.
Japanese car maker Nissan, a mass market pioneer for electricity-powered vehicles with its Leaf model, has shortlisted Thailand to host its Asia-Pacific electric vehicle manufacturing facility, the Bangkok Post reported. According to Yutaka Sanada, Nissan’s senior vice president for Asia-Pacific, Thailand is one of the key candidates for Nissan’s new electric vehicle facility because the company has already invested heavily in factories in Samut Prakan southeast of Bangkok. The facilities there now have a production capacity of 370,000 vehicles per annum. Nissan also runs its research and development unit adjacent to the plant, called Nissan Technical Center Southeast Asia, its...
Japanese car maker Nissan, a mass market pioneer for electricity-powered vehicles with its Leaf model, has shortlisted Thailand to host its Asia-Pacific electric vehicle manufacturing facility, the Bangkok Post reported.
According to Yutaka Sanada, Nissan’s senior vice president for Asia-Pacific, Thailand is one of the key candidates for Nissan’s new electric vehicle facility because the company has already invested heavily in factories in Samut Prakan southeast of Bangkok. The facilities there now have a production capacity of 370,000 vehicles per annum.
Nissan also runs its research and development unit adjacent to the plant, called Nissan Technical Center Southeast Asia, its third outside of Japan and an R&D hub for ASEAN.
Currently, Nissan is conducting a feasibility study for its eco-friendly models in the ASEAN market, Sanada said.
“Once we see any acceleration of electric vehicles in Thailand or around the region, Nissan can localise production very quickly, so we are seriously considering applying for investment incentives,” he told the paper.
The two cars that could be built in the new facility would be Leaf EV and the Note e-Power, and later on other e-Power models which are equipped with Nissan’s latest eco-friendly technology that resembles a hybrid system powered by both a small battery and a gasoline engine. In any case, Nissan plans to introduce e-Power models in Thailand and Indonesia “as soon as possible.”
In ASEAN, Nissan owns production plants in Thailand and Indonesia, while it has assembly factories in Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Myanmar with partners.
While the popularity of electric vehicles is expected to accelerate in the region in the foreseeable future, Sanada said that one stumbling block for them taking off was insufficient infrastructure such as public charging stations.
However, a growing number of developers in Bangkok, for example, are already equipping parking lots of new condominium buildings with overnight charging stations, so the infrastructure issue could become a less pressing one over the coming years. There are also some gas stations at least in urban centers providing charging facilities.
