Chinese firm EHang plans to introduce its autonomous aerial vehicles (AAVs) to Thailand for urban air mobility in partnership with local company Charoen Pokphand (CP) Group.

CP Group is one of the largest conglomerates in Thailand, and plans to establish a joint venture with EHang in Thailand for AAV sales and urban air mobility (UAM) operations.

The two parties intend to leverage their respective expertise and resources in a long-term collaboration on AAV product sales and marketing, regulatory compliance, business development, infrastructure deployment, talent cultivation, and so on, for future UAM operations and introduce the safe, autonomous and sustainable air mobility technology to Thailand as well as more overseas markets.

The parties expect their strategic collaboration will unleash UAM value-creating potential across multiple industries.

With investments in 21 countries and economies, CP Group is comprised of eight business lines and 14 business groups, covering various sectors of agriculture-industry and food, retail and distribution, media and telecommunications, ecommerce and digital, property development, automotive and industrial products, and pharmaceuticals. The partnership opens up cross-sector cooperation opportunities for CP Group and EHang and sets up a solid foundation for potential use cases for EHang AAVs in scenarios such as aerial sightseeing, cargo transportation, last-kilometre delivery, city air taxi, and smart city management in Thailand and beyond.

Jiraporn Sudanich, consul-general of the Royal Thai Consulate-General in Guangzhou, attended the partnership signing ceremony and said: “EHang’s innovative technologies are of great significance, which can be applied to various fields including tourism, logistics, healthcare, disaster mitigation and agriculture. I believe that the cooperation between EHang and CP Group will enrich the industrial chain of robotic technology in Thailand, and I also expect to see EHang bring new vitality to the development of Thailand’s technology industry in the future.”

Thanakorn Seriburi, senior vice chairman of CP Group, added: “By joining hands with EHang, a global pioneer in the autonomous eVTOL industry, we’ve made a step further towards our commitment to driving our businesses, society and the environment closer to sustainability and exploring a new zero-carbon air mobility mode for the community. Through leveraging EHang’s unique AAV technologies and efficient and eco-friendly UAM for different industries, I believe our partnership will further create synergies among CP Group’s industrial, aviation, smart city, food, retail, pharmaceutical and other business lines, and will unlock opportunities on a diversified UAM ecosystem and facilitate the development of smart cities in Thailand.”

As an AAV provider and UAM platform operator, EHang has recently been expanding its footprint to penetrate Asian markets with more customers and partners in Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.

“We are thrilled to partner with CP Group to introduce EHang AAVs to Thailand, one of the largest south-east Asian markets with great potentials for UAM operations,” said Huazhi Hu, EHang CEO. “We will work with CP Group, who has a wealth of comprehensive business strengths in their local markets, on extensive and sustainable cooperation in various fields, to take the lead in bringing safe, autonomous and eco-friendly air mobility to Thai industries and society.”

Founded in Bangkok in 1921, CP Group operates across many industries ranging from traditional backbone industries such as agriculture to technology-driven forefront industries such as ecommerce and digital, which are categorised into eight business lines covering 14 business groups. The company has investments in 21 countries and regions with more than 450,000 employees worldwide.