China’s Changan Automobile to Build NEV Plant in Thailand

What’s new: Chinese state-owned automaker Chongqing Changan Automobile Co. Ltd. signed an agreement Tuesday to invest 8.8 billion Thai Baht ($242 million) in a new-energy vehicle (NEV) factory in Thailand.

The first phase of the project is expected to have an annual production capacity of as many as 100,000 purely electric and hybrid vehicles, Changan said Wednesday. The autos will be sold locally and exported to markets in the Southeast Asia region, Australia, New Zealand, the U.K. and South Africa, the company said.