As we gear up for the 2026 Bangkok International Motor Show (BIMS) this week, another big piece of news just came out of the Thai capital, where Chinese automotive giant Geely has reportedly set up a new entity known as Geely Auto Thailand.
According to reports from Autolife Thailand, this newly-established entity will oversee the business aspects for the three main Geely-owned brands currently present in the Land of Smiles, namely Zeekr, Riddara, and Geely—the latter set to become a mainstream brand in the Thai automotive space.
All Geely Brands Now Under One New Umbrella
Prior to this establishment, the three aforementioned Geely-owned brands were operated independent of each other, with only Zeekr and Riddara being run by the parent company directly from China. The Geely business, on the other hand, was previously managed through an official importer and distributor Thonburi Neustern.
While the business aspect for the main Geely brand in Thailand would still be under Thonburi Neustern, the parent company will now focus on the broader aspects such as branding management, after-sales service, and product launch plans.
More importantly, this move will see Geely rearranging its product hierarchy in the Thai market, where the main Geely brand will be focusing on mainstream models priced below the THB 1 million (RM121K approx.) mark. Meanwhile, Zeekr gets the more premium price tier with models above THB 1 million, and no plans have been revealed for the Riddara brand, at least for now.
CKD Plans In the Works – Proton’s RHD Hub Plan to go Down the Drain?
But perhaps the most eye-opening bit from this latest revelation is that Geely is also interested in setting up a new local assembly (CKD) plant in the country.
“There are several options for investing in a car assembly plant in Thailand, including investment by the parent company or outsourcing assembly to a local plant. The final decision will depend on the government’s policies in attracting investment to entrepreneurs,” said Alex Bao, MD for Southeast Asia, Zeekr Thailand.
With the Thai Zeekr boss himself hinting at the possibility of a new CKD plant in Thailand, it remains to be seen how this will affect Proton’s role as the right-hand drive (RHD) production hub for Geely-branded models in the Southeast Asia region.
Said plan was uttered a few years back during the dawn of P1’s partnership with Geely, with the Chinese automaker previously indicating that Proton would be its RHD assembly hub for this region. However, this latest revelation, plus Geely’s current CKD plant in Indonesia that assembles the EX2 (e.MAS 5) and Starray EM-i (e.MAS 7 PHEV), does tell an opposite story to the original plan.
Having said that, Proton’s newly-opened EV assembly plant would still be in charge of producing other Geely-related models such as Zeekr and smart EVs, albeit only for local consumption.
