Honda Motor plans to expand its product range across south east Asia with the addition of new hybrid electric models, according to reports in the region.
The company has chosen Thailand as the regional production hub for these vehicles and has applied to the country's board of investment for investment incentives and privileges.
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The company already assembles the Accord hybrid at its Ayutthaya plant in Thailand.
Shinji Aoyama, chief executive officer of Bangkok based Asian Honda Motor, told local reporters his company sees conventional hybrids as best suited for the region's developing market in the short term, rather than plug in hybrids or electric vehicles.
Apart from the lower initial cost, the current lack of electric vehicle recharging infrastructure is also an issue in this region.
However, future government policy across the region will increasingly favour hybrid and electric vehicles, including in Indonesia which has indicated it wants 20% of passenger vehicle sales to be electric/hybrid by 2025.
Honda Motor has a target for hybrid and electric vehicles to account for two thirds of its global sales by 2030. The company said it had sold close to 2.2m units cumulatively so far, including 1.5m units in Japan, 462,000 in the US and 139,000 in Europe.
