The 2000th heavy-duty truck of BAIC Foton rolled off the production line in the Thai market, opening a new chapter in its global strategy.

On March 9, 2025, a significant ceremony was grandly held at the factory in Thailand. The 2000th heavy-duty truck of BAIC Foton in the Thai market rolled off the production line officially, and a delivery ceremony for major customers was held simultaneously. This milestone event not only kicked off a new journey of localized production of BAIC Foton in the Thai market but also serves as a powerful testament to the deepening of BAIC Foton's internationalization strategy and the accelerated promotion of its global industrial chain layout. By virtue of the deep integration of the localized manufacturing and service systems, BAIC Foton has further consolidated its foundation in the Southeast Asian market and laid a solid foundation for expanding the 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, said in his speech: "The roll-off of the 2000th heavy-duty truck of BAIC Foton in the Thai market and the delivery of the 128th heavy-duty tractor to Yifan Shipping is another milestone in BAIC Foton's globalization strategy and a vivid practice of the coordination of the industrial chains between China and Thailand and the win-win cooperation among partners!"

Looking back, since BAIC Foton entered the Thai market in 2015, it efficiently completed the business layout of the entire value chain, including localized manufacturing and sales, in just two years. In 2019, BAIC Foton and Charoen Pokphand Group jointly established a joint venture company. The two sides complemented each other's advantages and quickly emerged in the Thai commercial vehicle market, aiming to become one of the top three commercial vehicle brands in the Thai market and further radiate to the vast markets in the ASEAN region and its surrounding areas. In November 2024, the Thai factory was completed and the first heavy-duty truck product rolled off the production line. In just a few months, with the excellent achievement of the 2000th heavy-duty truck, it has established an outstanding brand image in the Thai market and even the entire Southeast Asian market.

The BAIC Foton Thai factory shoulders the grand goal of building one of the global manufacturing centers and a manufacturing center in the Asia-Pacific region. It covers an area of approximately 37,000 square meters and 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 of the Department of Land Transport. With a highly forward-looking factory planning, guided by the development of a full range of commercial vehicle products such as heavy-duty trucks, medium-duty trucks, light-duty trucks, buses and new energy series, it is equipped with a series of complete production facilities such as the assembly workshop, inspection & debugging, quality inspection, logistics and warehousing. Currently, it has achieved KD localized 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 BAIC Foton Thai factory will accelerate the introduction of 12 vehicle models, covering all categories of new energy, heavy-duty trucks and light-duty trucks, and serve the Thai and even the Asia-Pacific market with a richer product matrix, 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 CP Manufacturing Co., Ltd., solemnly handed over the key of the Auman EST automatic heavy-duty truck to the representative of the major Thai customer. Up to now, BAIC Foton has delivered a total of 128 automatic heavy-duty trucks to this customer. The delivered automatic heavy-duty tractors are equipped with the Foton Cummins golden power chain, featuring flexible operation and powerful performance. They are equipped with a high-strength steel frame and corrosion-resistant aluminum alloy components, combining safety and reliability, and are highly 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-first concept, providing 7×24-hour immediate 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 to jointly create 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 of technical standards and the efficiency of ecological coordination. BAIC Foton has not only successfully established an industrial cluster in Thailand but also plans to expand its business to the Asia-Pacific markets such as Indonesia and Vietnam in the next step. At the same time, the localized layout of BAIC Foton in the Americas is also being steadily promoted, and the localized manufacturing project in Brazil is being accelerated for implementation. 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 move forward hand in hand to explore new paths for win-win development. Up to now, BAIC Foton has established 22 localized KD factories around the world, which not only serves as a powerful driving force for enhancing its international competitiveness but also makes a positive contribution to the local industrial development and social employment.

From the roll-off of the first heavy-duty truck to the 2000th heavy-duty 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 deep cultivation of the localization strategy, and it is also a powerful declaration of the upgrading 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 Chinese intelligent manufacturing to go global.

Facing the future, BAIC Foton will continue to strive to reach new sales peaks in the Thai market, deepen the development of network channels, actively organize the upstream and downstream enterprises of the domestic industrial chain to go global in clusters, and make every effort to promote the electrification and intelligence development process of Thai commercial vehicles, and continuously expand the industrial ecological partnership circle of China-Thailand integration. 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 channel for the Chinese commercial vehicle industry, which is "taking technology as the foundation and winning the future with ecology".

The remarkable achievements of BAIC Foton in the Thai market are not only a wonderful epitome of the globalization journey of Chinese manufacturing but also an outstanding model of win-win cooperation between China and Thailand. With the successful roll-off of the 2000th heavy-duty truck, BAIC Foton is steadily moving towards the higher peak of the global commercial vehicle market.

Source of this news:chinatruck.org