The Ora – once Australia’s cheapest EV – is currently produced in China along with the rest of GWM’s model range, however the brand has been investing heavily in a factory in Rayong, Thailand for export markets.
GWM already produces multiple models at the factory for other markets, with the Ora, the Cannon (or Poer), Cannon Alpha (or Poer Sahar), the Tank 300 and 500, and the Haval H6 and Jolion all being built in Thailand.
The factory was previously owned and operated by General Motors – where it built certain vehicles for the Australian market, such as the last-generation Holden Colorado and Trailblazer, as well as the Zafira people mover – until it was sold to GWM in 2020.
While all GWM models currently in Australian showrooms are sourced from China, government documents show the Ora has been approved for an update, and the refreshed model is likely to come from Thailand, based on its Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) prefix.
This change in production sourcing has been confirmed by GWM Australia to Torquecafe, with a spokesperson saying the change “relates to available production volume capacity from Thailand, specifically”.
The first examples of the Thai-built Ora are due here in the third quarter of 2025 (July to September).
It will make the Ora the first car from a Chinese brand to be sold in Australia which hasn’t been built in China – though it’s not uncommon for non-Chinese brands to build cars in China and sell them here.
In addition to the source of production change, the documents also show the Ora lineup is set to be renamed, with the Standard Range and Extended Range to become the Lux and Ultra, respectively, aligning themselves with other GWM models.
The flagship GT’s name will remain unchanged, should it be reintroduced into the model lineup after recently being dropped. GWM Australia hasn’t confirmed whether this naming structure will be included in the change.
While there are production volume benefits for GWM to source the Australian-delivered Ora from Thailand, we already have a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with China as well as Thailand, which means the EV’s price is unlikely to be impacted.
That’s in contrast to other vehicles such as the Ford Ranger, with most examples built in Thailand except the new Ranger Plug-in Hybrid, which is built in South Africa – which Australia doesn’t have an FTA with, exposing it to a five per cent import tariff.
Despite its low starting price of $35,990 drive-away (making it the second-cheapest EV in Australia), the GWM Ora hasn’t been a sales success locally.
In 2024, just 1225 examples were delivered, placing it behind the significantly dearer Polestar 2, BMW iX2 and Kia EV6, among others. By comparison, the similarly priced BYD Dolphin racked up 2116 deliveries, while the MG 4 was the third-best selling EV with 6934 deliveries.
That trend has continued into 2025, where it didn’t even crack the top 30 in the EV sales charts through the opening three months of the year.
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