Sakun C readies electric minibuses for delivery
Sakun C Innovation Co is set to deliver the first batch of 208 units of electric minibuses to local customers in the first quarter next year.
The vehicle, marketed as the Sakun C brand, is priced at 2.3 million a unit, said chief executive Weeraphon Techaphasuksanti.
The company will assemble the minibus at its plant in Suphan Buri, which has the capacity to make 2,800 such units a year.
The 1-billion-baht investment in the plant received perks from the Board of Investment.
Sakun C, which has expertise in using modern materials and technologies such as lightweight aluminium to build boats and vehicles, expects revenue this year to reach 100 million baht.
The company expects revenue to jump to around 800 million next year thanks to its wide range of products in the market, namely electric buses, electric minibuses and electric boats.
“The growth next year will mainly stem from new orders and should be supported by the government’s policy in promoting electric vehicles [EVs], which should stimulate demand,” said Mr Weeraphon.
Sakun C plans to go public sometime in the next three years and use the proceeds raised from the initial public offering on the Stock Exchange of Thailand to expand business overseas.
He said the expansion will focus on Asean as the market has strong opportunity for EV technology — a global trend that regional governments are supporting.
Mr Weeraphon said Sakun C has formed a collaboration with the government to develop EVs and provide them to private and public bus organisations.
Recently, Sakun C worked with the Science and Technology Ministry to use lightweight aluminium in boat-building to make water transport safer.
The company received international certification for the standard of its manufacturing quality that applies state-ofthe-art foam technology that is injected into the lower part of the hull to create a vessel that is ostensibly “unsinkable”.
When the boat is completely flooded, the foam technology can keep it afloat, the company said.
The technology works for anything from 5-metre-long speedboats to 19m ships that are able to carry 80-100 passengers.
The ministry is mulling promoting the use of this technology in local boats, especially those used in the tourism sector.