(Yicai) July 5 -- Thailand's new energy vehicle industry is ushering in a golden era of development, according to the chairman of Chinese electric vehicle giant BYD.

When a country's NEV penetration rate exceeds 10 percent, it reaches a critical point that is the entry point to a thriving growth stage, Wang Chuanfu said at the opening ceremony of BYD's production plant Thailand, the automaker’s first factory in Southeast Asia.

Thailand’s NEV penetration rate is already 12 percent, Wang pointed out.

More than 76,300 all-electric vehicles were sold in Thailand last year, an almost eight-fold surge on the previous year, according to data from car industry services provider Autolife.

Shenzhen-based BYD officially entered the Thai market in 2022 and has already taken a 41 percent share of the local NEV market, Wang noted, adding that BYD has been Thailand's best-selling NEV brand since January last year.

In 2022, BYD announced it would invest THB35 billion (USD950 million) to build the plant in Thailand, which will have an annual output capacity of 150,000 vehicles. The factory is the company’s production base on SE Asia.

BYD plans to introduce plug-in hybrid EVs into the Thai market in the future to further promote localized research and development, enrich its product lineup, and meet consumer needs.

In the first half of the year, BYD's overseas sales exceeded 200,000 units, up 174 percent from a year earlier. BYD's NEVs are on sale in 88 countries and regions worldwide, with overseas production bases in Thailand, Brazil, Hungary, and Uzbekistan.

Editor: Futura Costaglione