Toyota Plans To Trial EV Pickup In Thailand

In an effort to increase its market share in Thailand's expanding electric vehicle (EV) market, Toyota is prepared to test a new electric pick-up truck there. According to Reuters, this programme is a reaction to the growing competition from Chinese electric vehicle producers, who have made significant investments in Thailand in order to grow their businesses abroad as a result of the decline in domestic sales.
Toyota's executive vice president, Pras Ganesh, disclosed that the company's engineers are concentrating on strengthening EV research and development capabilities in Thailand, which houses one of Toyota's global research and development centres, as well as tailoring the company's electric pick-up trucks to local conditions.


Although Toyota unveiled an electric variant of its well-liked Hilux truck last year, no information has been made public regarding its commercial availability as of yet. Toyota has just launched an electric pickup truck in Thailand in an effort to compete with its Chinese rivals in the market.
Despite bringing the bz4X electric SUV to market last year, Toyota still faced stiff competition from rivals such as BYD and Great Wall Motor, whose electric vehicles outsold the bz4X, The Bangkok Post reported.

In Thailand, pick-up trucks are a vital part of the automotive industry; last year, they made up almost half of all vehicle sales. In the one-ton pick-up truck market, Toyota presently commands a 39% market share, according to research firm MarkLines. With a 34% market share, the automaker also leads the industry in new car sales across all segments.

According to Ganesh, a small number of electric pickup trucks, primarily for use in public transit will go through testing in Pattaya at the beginning of 2019. Other electric pickup trucks are also being tested by Toyota for uses like last-mile delivery services.

Although EVs make up about half of all EV sales in Southeast Asia, BMI researchers predict that this year's penetration of the Thai market will be less than 9% of all vehicle sales. After spending almost $7 billion in Thailand over the previous ten years, Toyota and its group companies are now thinking about producing electric vehicles there. The automaker did, however, recently lower by 39% its forecasts for global battery EV sales for the fiscal year that ends in March 2024, citing a restricted supply of vehicles as one of the contributing factors.