Toyota's EV Pickup Trial In Thailand Aims To Outshine Warren Buffett-Backed BYD And Great Wall Motor

Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corp TM is set to trial a new electric pickup truck in Thailand amidst increasing competition from Warren Buffett-Backed BYD BYDDF and Great Wall Motor GWLLF in the EV market.

What Happened: Toyota is gearing up to test a new EV pickup in Thailand in the wake of an aggressive expansion by Chinese EV manufacturers in the region, reported Reuters. Chinese EV players have committed about $1.5 billion for new production facilities in the country.

Pras Ganesh, the executive vice president of Toyota Daihatsu Engineering & Manufacturing, told Reuters that its engineers are working on adapting electric pickups to the local conditions and enhancing their EV R&D capacity in Thailand, one of Toyota’s five global R&D centers. Pickup trucks play a vital role in Thailand’s automotive market and accounted for nearly half of total vehicle sales last year.

In a bid to expand, Toyota plans to test a small batch of battery EV pickups as taxis in Pattaya, a beach city, early next year. The company is also considering deploying EV pickups for last-mile delivery services, the report said.

Why It Matters: For the first half of the year, Toyota and Lexus vehicle sales rose 9.1% Y/Y to 5.2 million, and EV sales increased 38.1% Y/Y to 1.8 million. However, for the full year, the company lowered its forecast for global battery EV sales by 39% last week.

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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

Toyota Photo by RYO Alexandre on Shutterstock