Image: GAC Aion
Last year, one of the larger EV manufacturers from China started expanding into the Thailand market with the introduction of an electric SUV, the Aion Y Plus.
At that time, one hundred of these EVs in right-hand-drive configuration boarded a vehicle transporter ship at Guangzhou’s Nansha Port and shipped across to Thailand.
Now, the brand has announced another key right-hand-drive market with this time announcing Hong Kong as the next market it aims to enter.
Like Thailand, the brand has launched the Aion Y Plus SUV with plans to build 6 stores in the country in 2024 according to a report by cnevpost.
No details on the pricing in the Hong Kong market were announced but its likely to be released in the coming weeks.
The Aion Y is offered in multiple variants in China with a starting price of $A25,700, making it one of the more affordable EVs. For comparison, the BYD Atto 3 has a starting price of just shy of $A30,000.
This model’s variants range from battery sizes of 51.9 kWh going all the way up to 70 kWh for the top-spec model.
Depending on the battery size, the base model delivers up to 430 km on the generous CLTC cycle while the top-spec variants with the larger battery can bump that range up to 610 km of CLTC range.
The company has also announced that it will be launching multiple new EV models in the Hong Kong market in 2024.
According to the latest industry data and covered in the latest report, GAC Aion has sold nearly 500,000 EVs in 2023 with plans for international expansion in full swing.
As part of this expansion, GAC Aion closed 2023 off by announcing a new factory in Thailand that will be manufacturing up to 50,000 new EVs a year once it’s up and running.
At that time, the reports stated that this factory will be up and running in the first phase of production kicking off by July 2024.
This is good news for other markets outside of Thailand as this plant will be producing cars for local and export markets.
With markets like Thailand and Hong Kong turning into a launch pad for many EV manufacturers, it’s likely that GAC Aion will also be exploring other right-hand-drive markets like ours in Australia.
Riz is the founder of carloop based in Melbourne, specialising in Australian EV data, insight reports and trends. He is a mechanical engineer who spent the first 7 years of his career building transport infrastructure before starting carloop. He has a passion for cars, particularly EVs and wants to help reduce transport emissions in Australia. He currently drives a red Tesla Model 3.
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