BMW is preparing a new production facility to manufacture fully electric vehicles in Thailand. Local battery electric vehicle (BEV) production is also scheduled to start in Rayong in the Land of Smiles in the second half of 2025. This was confirmed when BMW announced that it will be setting up a new manufacturing plant to build its Gen 5 high-voltage batteries in Thailand.
The BMW high-voltage battery assembly facility in Thailand will have a footprint of 4,000 square metres. The facility will be converting battery cells into modules that will then be integrated into high-voltage batteries.
Over 1.6 billion baht (approx. RM211 million) of investment has been put into the project. BMW will be using a share of the investment – almost 1.4 billion baht (approx. RM184 million) to buy state-of-the-art equipment and systems.
BMW AG Production Board Member, Milan Nedeljković said, “Local production of high-voltage batteries in Rayong is the next logical step in the continued electrification of our production network. Once again, the principle of ‘local for local’ applies, supporting economic development, employment opportunities and knowledge transfer in Thailand and the ASEAN region.”
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This won’t be the German firm’s first battery assembly plant in Thailand though, as BMW has been producing high-voltage batteries in Thailand for locally-made plug-in hybrids since 2019 at its plant in Chonburi.
BMW’s Rayong plant makes about two dozen BMW, MINI and BMW Motorrad models for the people of Thailand as well as various ASEAN markets. In 2023 alone, the plant in Thailand has output more than 12,000 cars and almost 11,000 motorcycles.
In preparation for the new Thailand plant’s opening in 2025, BMW’s employees will undergo a series of training programmes. With this, BMW aims to improve the technical skills of its local staff through knowledge transfer.
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