The Deepal S07 and Deepal L07 received 6,452 pre-orders in the first 45 hours after the start of pre-sales, ahead of the start of formal sales.

(Deepal S07 and Deepal L07, known in China as Deepal S7 and Deepal SL03, respectively, officially went on sale in Thailand. Image credit: Deepal)

Deepal, the new energy vehicle (NEV) arm of Changan Automobile, has officially launched two models in Thailand, marking the first time its electric vehicles (EVs) have been available in the Southeast Asian country.

The Deepal S07 and Deepal L07 went on sale at the Thailand auto show on November 29 at a starting price of THB 1,399,000 ($40,177) and THB 1,329,000, respectively, according to Deepal's announcement last night.

The two battery electric vehicle (BEV) models, known in China as Deepal S7 and Deepal SL03, were renamed in Thailand for reasons including registration. Their starting prices in China are RMB 149,900 yuan ($21,021) and 145,900 yuan, respectively.

Both models made their debut and went on pre-sale at Changan's brand launch event in Thailand on November 27, although prices were not announced at that time.

The Deepal S07 and Deepal L07 garnered more than 3,500 pre-orders in the first eight hours and 6,452 pre-orders in 45 hours after pre-sales began in Thailand, Deepal said yesterday.

Similar to its strategy in China, Deepal is offering local customers in Thailand an entitlement package worth 250,000 baht, including first-year insurance, home charger installation.

Deepal is Changan's NEV brand unveiled in 2022. It officially unveiled the Deepal SL03, a Model 3 competitor, on July 25 last year, with deliveries starting in September last year.

The Deepal S7 was officially launched in China on June 25 to compete with the Tesla Model Y, and deliveries began on June 30.

Deepal's goal for 2023 is to sell 200,000 vehicles, the brand's CEO Deng Chenghao said in an interview with Chinese media outlet Auto Home in April.

Deepal delivered 15,513 vehicles in October, up 143 percent year-on-year but down 10.69 percent from September, data it released earlier this month showed.

In the January-October period, Deepal delivered 102,417 vehicles.

Deepal aims to sell 450,000 units globally in 2024, Deng said on November 27 on Weibo.

Deepal will next continue to build globalized models and accelerate its entry into the ASEAN and European markets, he said.

In addition to Deepal, Changan also plans to introduce its two other two NEV brands Avatr and Nevo (or Qiyuan) to the Southeast Asian market.

Changan is building a production base in Thailand, with the first phase due to start production in the first quarter of 2025, and will introduce models under the sub-brands Deepal, Avatr, or Nevo, the company said in the November 27 event.

The carmaker will invest 20 billion baht in the site, with a total planned annual capacity of 200,000 units, and the first phase of the investment will be about 10 billion baht with an annual capacity of 100,000 units.

($1 = THB 34.8200, $1 = RMB 7.1310)

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