GWM starts production of the Ora 5 in Thailand

GWM recently rolled the first units of the Ora 5 off the assembly line at its plant in Pluak Daeng District, Rayong Province. The company has developed the new model in ICE, hybrid, and pure electric variants, but in Thailand, it does not offer the non-electrified option. It is estimating a starting price of 649,000 baht (approximately 17,000 euros) for the Ora 5 EV, subject to approval under the government’s EV 3.5 promotion scheme. As for the Ora 5 Hybrid, the company has set a higher base price of 709,000 baht (approximately 18,600 euros).The Ora 5 is 4.471 m long, 1.833 m wide, and 1.641 m tall, making it 23.6 cm longer, 8 mm wider, and 38 mm taller than its predecessor – the Ora 03, also known as the Ora Good Cat and Ora Funky Cat. Its wheelbase, at 2.720 m, is 7 cm longer than that of the electric-only hatchback it replaces.GWM offers the Ora 5 EV in Thailand in only one electric powertrain configuration, pairing a permanent magnet synchronous motor tuned to produce 150 kW and 260 Nm of torque with a 58.3 kWh LFP battery pack chargeable at up to 6.6 kW (AC) and 120 kW (DC). This setup gives the electric compact SUV a range of 520 kilometres according to the NEDC standard. In Europe, the WLTP range for the same configuration is 435 kilometres.The Thai factory is GWM’s second full-production manufacturing facility following the one in Tula, Russia. It offers an annual production capacity of 80,000 units, a figure that has remained unchanged since operations began in June 2021. The Thai plant serves as the company’s key production base in Southeast Asia and is capable of producing ICE, hybrid, and pure electric models on a single production line.At the time of opening, GWM said that it would allocate 60 per cent of production to the Thai market and the remaining 40 per cent to exports. It uses approximately 50 per cent locally sourced parts in the vehicles manufactured in Thailand.GWM plans to build the Ora 5 in one more location outside China. It is considering South Africa, North Africa, and southern Europe, GWM South Africa COO Conrad Groenewald revealed in an interview with Cars.co.za last year. Groenewald was referring to the car by its codename, ‘EC-15’, at the time. A month later, GWM International President Parker Shi told Reuters that Spain and Hungary are among the countries the company is considering for its European plant.GWM received 5,000 pre-orders for the Ora 5 in Thailand and will deliver these units between May and June. In Germany and other European markets, GWM plans to launch the Ora 5 in ICE, hybrid, and pure electric variants this summer.gwm.co.th (in Thai), gwm.co.th (specs), reuters.com