GAC battery arm Inpow starts production at new Thailand plant

First pack rolls off the Thai line

Inpow Battery Technology, the battery industrialisation arm of China's GAC Group, officially commenced production at its new manufacturing facility in Thailand on 29 October, marked by the roll-off of the first locally produced power battery pack. CarNewsChina, which reported the milestone, describes it as a step in Inpow's strategy to strengthen the new energy vehicle supply chain in Southeast Asia and to export its manufacturing capabilities to international markets. ¹

According to the company as reported by CarNewsChina, Inpow claims a total investment of 10.9 billion yuan (1.63 billion US dollars), a research and development team of more than 800 people, cumulative R&D investment exceeding 2 billion yuan (300 million US dollars) and more than 700 patents. These figures are corporate statements rather than independently audited disclosures, and the report does not break down how much of the investment relates specifically to the Thai facility. ¹

The Thai plant milestone followed a separate production claim earlier in the month: on 15 October, Inpow announced that its cumulative global production had reached 300,000 battery packs, which CarNewsChina notes are integrated across a range of GAC Aion models including the i60, N60 and UT. That figure covers global output, not Thai output, and the report does not state the new plant's annual capacity. ¹

GAC's in-house battery build-up

The Thai facility sits within a broader battery strategy documented by Gasgoo. From 2020, GAC began building its own battery research and development system, establishing Greater Bay Technology in September 2020 with a third-party strategic partner shareholding platform, then founding Yinpai Battery Technology — the entity corresponding to Inpow — and Ruipai Power Technology, which developed battery and electric drive capabilities in-house. Gasgoo reports Yinpai's battery factory in China began operations in December 2023 with a planned annual capacity of 36GWh, initially set to produce 6GWh and ultimately to supply batteries for 600,000 new energy vehicles a year. ⁶

Gasgoo also records that as GAC's in-house battery capability matured, its battery joint venture with CATL, GAC CATL, was dissolved in June 2023, and that GAC's Magazine batteries from the Yinpai factory were already being installed in models under GAC AION and GAC Motor. In 2023 GAC established UPower Energy to develop a vertically integrated chain spanning lithium mining, battery materials, manufacturing, storage, charging, swapping, rental and recycling. ⁶

Established Thai footprint behind the battery plant

The battery plant arrives alongside an existing Thai operation. GAC Thailand marked its third anniversary in September 2026, and both CarNewsChina and GAC's own anniversary communications state that 34,898 GAC vehicles were registered in Thailand from the brand's 2023 market entry through August 2026, with a dealer and service network of 73 locations across 40 provinces. GAC's Thai car factory is operating at full capacity, with maximum annual production of 50,000 vehicles, a figure both sources report. ¹⁷

GAC Thailand's anniversary release traces the vehicle plant to July 2024, when the company opened its first new energy vehicle production plant outside China at the Amata City Industrial Estate in Rayong, with initial capacity of 20,000 vehicles a year and a maximum of 50,000, serving as a right-hand drive production base for domestic sales and exports. Full-scale local assembly (CKD) began in early to mid-2025, according to the same statement. ⁷

Charging infrastructure is also established: both CarNewsChina and GAC Thailand report more than 300 charging stations built independently or in partnership, offering more than 1,000 DC fast-charging points nationwide. Separately, in June 2025 GAC opened the GACB Sathorn flagship experience centre and a GAC Thailand Battery Service Center in Bangkok, with UPower Energy's Wang Ke describing the battery service centre at the opening as the only professional battery service centre in Thailand supported by the Board of Investment policy, according to GAC's own announcement. ¹⁷²

The wider Southeast Asian and global picture

The Thai battery plant fits GAC's internationalisation push documented by Gasgoo: the group's "1551" strategy, unveiled in August 2023, targets 500,000 vehicle sales by 2030 across five major regions, with planned production bases in Malaysia, Thailand and Myanmar covering ASEAN. Thailand was designated a key market, and the Rayong plant was GAC AION's first overseas production base, designed for 50,000 vehicles a year in two phases. ⁶

GAC has also expanded manufacturing elsewhere in the region. The ASEAN Federation of Motor Associations reports GAC began operations at its GAC Indonesia Smart Factory in Jakarta on 20 June 2025, an assembly plant with capacity of 20,000 units a year that the group said could rise to 50,000 depending on demand, producing models including the Aion V, Aion Y Plus and Hyptec HT with Indomobil Group investment. ⁸

No established Australian link

GAC launched in Australia in November 2025 with the Emzoom, Aion V and M8 PHEV, and GAC's own launch announcement describes plans for more than 10 new models in Australia over five years, a dealer network target of more than 100 outlets, a seven-year unlimited-kilometre vehicle warranty and an eight-year/200,000-kilometre battery warranty. RACQ reports the Aion UT compact electric hatch joined the local lineup in April 2026. ³⁵

No source in this report establishes that the new Thai battery plant supplies or will supply batteries for GAC vehicles sold in Australia; the supplied reporting does not draw that connection and Australian supply arrangements remain unknown. Battery packs produced by Inpow are documented as feeding GAC Aion models such as the i60, N60 and UT, and the Aion V second generation sold in Australia carries a 75kWh battery with claimed WLTP range of up to 510km according to CarExpert, but the origin of batteries for Australian-delivered vehicles is not stated in the available material. ¹⁴