BMW Eager to Develop Thai Electric-Vehicle Market

BMW wants the military government in Thailand to provide tax incentives for manufacturers and buyers of electric vehicles and to spend money on plug-in recharging infrastructure.

BMW Group Thailand President Matthias Pfalz says all local automakers are capable of building EVs if the government would provide attractive tax incentives and help drivers with a recharging network.

The German automaker imports two EVs into Thailand, the ’14 BMW i8 and the ’15 BMW i3.

“Those models carry import duties of as high as 80%, plus 10% excise tax and 7% VAT,” Pfalz tells the Bangkok Post newspaper.

BMW Thailand is involved in an initiative to develop a DC quick charger for EVs in cooperation with Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Engineering, the Provincial Electricity Authority and ThaiGerTec.

Pfalz says the alliance is intended to expand the level of technology transfer from Germany to Thailand and to share EV expertise with the Thai automotive sector to establish sustainable, emissions-free mobility and promote Thailand as an ASEAN innovative automotive hub.

Industry Minister Chakramon Phasukvanich says the Board of Investment eventually will offer special incentives to automakers to promote local EV production, but the plans are not expected to be ready for five years.

The board does have a package of privileges for manufacturers investing in auto-parts production for EVs and hybrid vehicles.

Pfalz contrasts the Thai situation with that of Norway, where all-electric cars are exempt from all non-recurring vehicle fees including high purchase taxes for regular vehicles and 25% value-added tax on all purchases.

This, Pfalz tells the newspaper, makes them price-competitive with conventional automobiles.

Norway’s EV drivers also are exempt from annual road taxes, all public parking fees and toll payments and are allowed to use bus lanes. The result, he says, is Norway’s fleet of plug-in EVs is the largest in the world per capita and Oslo is called the EV capital of the world.

BMW sold a record 8,386 units in Thailand last year.