On March 9th, a highly significant ceremony was grandly held at the factory in Thailand. The 2,000th heavy truck of BAIC Foton for the Thai market officially rolled off the production line, and a delivery ceremony for major customers was held simultaneously. This milestone event not only marks the beginning of a brand-new journey for BAIC Foton’s localized production in the Thai market but also serves as a powerful testament to the deepening of BAIC Foton’s internationalization strategy and the accelerated advancement of its global industrial chain layout. By deeply integrating its localized manufacturing and service systems, BAIC Foton has further solidified its foundation in the Southeast Asian market and laid a solid foundation for expanding into markets along the Belt and Road Initiative.
On that day, Zhang Jianyong, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of BAIC Group, Lu Zhenghua, Executive Deputy General Manager of BAIC Foton, Li Shaozhu, Senior Vice Chairman of Charoen Pokphand Group, Xie Jieren, Vice Chairman of Charoen Pokphand Industry, as well as representatives of major customers, media representatives, and many other guests gathered together to witness this historic moment. Lu Zhenghua, Executive Deputy General Manager of BAIC Foton, stated in his speech, “The roll-off of the 2,000th heavy truck of BAIC Foton in the Thai market and the delivery of the 128th heavy truck tractor to Yifan Shipping are another milestone in BAIC Foton’s globalization strategy and a vivid practice of the synergy between the Chinese and Thai industrial chains and the win-win cooperation among partners!”
Looking back, since BAIC Foton entered the Thai market in 2015, it efficiently completed the layout of the entire value chain business, including localized manufacturing and sales, in just two years. In 2019, BAIC Foton and Charoen Pokphand Group jointly established a joint venture company. Complementing each other’s advantages, the two sides quickly emerged in the Thai commercial vehicle market, aspiring to become one of the top three commercial vehicle brands in the Thai market and radiating to the vast markets in the ASEAN region and its surroundings. In November 2024, the Thai factory was completed, and the first heavy truck product rolled off the production line. In just a few months, with the excellent achievement of the 2,000th heavy truck, it has established an outstanding brand image in the Thai market and even in the entire Southeast Asian market.
The Thai factory of BAIC Foton bears the grand goal of building one of the global manufacturing centers and a manufacturing center in the Asia-Pacific region. Covering an area of approximately 37,000 square meters, it has an annual production capacity of 3,000 vehicles in a single shift. It has passed the TISI factory certification, TAI localization certification, and the DLT licensing for vehicle registration by the Ministry of Land Transport. With a highly forward-looking factory plan, guided by the development of a full range of commercial vehicle products such as heavy trucks, medium trucks, light trucks, buses, and new energy series, it is equipped with a series of complete production facilities, including the final assembly workshop, inspection & commissioning, quality inspection, logistics warehousing, etc. Currently, it has achieved localized KD operation and has become a leader among Chinese commercial vehicle enterprises in setting up truck factories in Thailand. Against the backdrop of the Thai government’s active promotion of environmental protection goals and the electrification of automobiles, in 2025, the Thai factory of BAIC Foton will accelerate the introduction of 12 vehicle models, covering all categories of new energy, heavy trucks, and light trucks. With a richer product matrix, it will serve the Thai market and even the Asia-Pacific market, providing cleaner and more sustainable energy solutions for Thailand and the Southeast Asian region.
At the delivery ceremony, Zhang Zengshuang, General Manager of BAIC Foton Charoen Pokphand Manufacturing Company, solemnly handed over the key of the Auman EST automatic transmission heavy truck to the representative of major customers in Thailand. Up to now, BAIC Foton has cumulatively delivered 128 automatic transmission heavy trucks to this customer. The delivered automatic transmission heavy truck tractors are equipped with the golden power chain of Foton Cummins, featuring flexible operation and powerful power. Equipped with a high-strength steel frame and corrosion-resistant aluminum alloy components, they combine safety and reliability and are deeply favored by the container transportation industry, such as Thai tire factories and electrical appliance enterprises. At the same time, BAIC Foton always adheres to the customer-oriented concept, providing 7×24-hour instant response service around the clock to ensure that every customer can enjoy the noble experience of “worry-free vehicle use” and have a safe and smooth journey every time. From research and development design to production and manufacturing, and then to after-sales service, BAIC Foton and its partners have meticulously crafted every link, jointly creating an industry benchmark of “Made in Thailand, Global Quality”.
Looking ahead to the future road of commercial vehicles “going global”, it is no longer a simple competition of single products but a comprehensive competition of the integration ability of the industrial chain, the right to speak on technical standards, and the efficiency of ecological synergy. BAIC Foton has not only successfully established an industrial cluster in Thailand but also plans to expand its business to Asia-Pacific markets such as Indonesia and Vietnam in the next step. At the same time, BAIC Foton’s localized layout in the Americas is also steadily advancing, and the localized manufacturing project in Brazil is being implemented at an accelerated pace. In the process of globalization, “cooperation and win-win” have always been the core keywords of BAIC Foton’s localization strategy. Through diversified cooperation models such as equity investment and technical cooperation, BAIC Foton and its partners work hand in hand to explore new paths for win-win development. Up to now, BAIC Foton has established 22 localized KD factories globally. This not only serves as a powerful driving force for enhancing its international competitiveness but also makes a positive contribution to local industrial development and social employment.
From the roll-off of the first heavy truck to the 2,000th heavy truck, this journey is a vivid portrayal of BAIC Foton leaving a deep mark of Chinese commercial vehicles in the Thai market with its own technical advantages and localized deep cultivation strategy, and it is also a powerful declaration of the upgrade of its globalization strategy. From “going global” to “integrating into the local market”, and from “product export” to “ecological empowerment”, BAIC Foton is taking Thailand as an important practice base and making every effort to build a new model for the going global of Made in China with intelligence.
Facing the future, in the Thai market, BAIC Foton will continue to strive to reach new sales peaks, deepen the development of network channels, actively organize upstream and downstream enterprises in the domestic industrial chain to go global as a cluster, and make every effort to promote the electrification and intelligence development process of commercial vehicles in Thailand, continuously expanding the circle of industrial ecological partners integrating China and Thailand. Under the dual opportunities of the Belt and Road Initiative and the global energy revolution, the exploration and practice of BAIC Foton are expected to open up a new global development route for China’s commercial vehicle industry, which is “taking technology as the foundation and winning the future with the ecosystem”.
The remarkable achievements of BAIC Foton in the Thai market are not only a wonderful microcosm of the globalization journey of Made in China but also an outstanding model of win-win cooperation between China and Thailand. With the successful roll-off of the 2,000th heavy truck, BAIC Foton is steadily moving forward towards the higher peak of the global commercial vehicle market.
