‘Asia’s Detroit’ Wants an EV Makeover. Enter: Chinese Carmakers.

News Snapshot:

RAYONG, Thailand—Ever since Nissan Motors started building cars in Thailand in the early 1960s, Japanese companies have been a driving force in the country’s rise as an auto manufacturing powerhouse. Now, Chinese competitors are moving in to bring it into the electric age. On the outskirts of Thailand’s carmaking capital, Rayong, not far from the industrial zones home to Japanese auto plants, China’s largest electric-vehicle maker, BYD, is developing what industry experts believe will be Thailand’s biggest car plant. Half a dozen other Chinese companies already build EVs here or have committed to, with an eye on domestic demand and...