Thailand slaps 35% tax on imported EVs to force carmakers to build local

Thailand is done playing nice with imported electric cars. Starting 1 January 2027, the country will slap a flat 35 per cent consumption tax on imported EVs — a sharp jump from the 10 per cent battery-electric vehicles pay today and the 15 per cent charged on range-extended models. The rule targets cars brought in as finished products, or those built without Thai-made components.

The decision traces back to Thailand's National Committee for Electric Vehicle Policy, which signed off on the change across 2025 and 2026. The trigger: local automakers and industry associations warned of a full-blown crisis, saying they simply cannot match the much cheaper EVs pouring in from China.

The timing is awkward. By 2026, electrified vehicles made up 55 per cent of all new registrations in Thailand for the first time — a genuine demand surge for the country. But the boom mostly fed imports of foreign cars rather than local production, which is exactly what Bangkok wants to flip.

So the government is leaving a door open. The Ministry of Finance has told the consumption tax authority to sit down directly with foreign investors and companies, and manufacturers that commit to building or assembling key components in Thailand can expect special tax rates. Importing gets expensive; investing gets rewarded.

Thailand has already put real money behind the pitch. Existing funding programmes, tax incentives and purchase subsidies have pulled in more than €3.5 billion, with Chinese manufacturers including BYD, Changan and Great Wall Motor among those setting up shop. By August 2026, approved investments across the entire electromobility ecosystem had climbed to the equivalent of €4.1 billion, spread over 189 projects.

The 2027 tax hike is designed to keep that capital flowing — and keep it in Thailand. The logic is simple: vehicle imports get tied directly to a willingness to invest locally, so the country stops being just a consumer market and starts positioning itself as a production and export hub for cleaner cars, with a push to raise the share of Thai-made components along the way.