Changzhou Baojie Motors has opened a new AC induction motor plant in Thailand, giving East West Manufacturing and its long-time partner a second Asian production base for U.S.-bound programmes.
The facility at Pinthong Industrial Park is focused on AC induction motors and is positioned close to Laem Chabang, Thailand’s main deep-sea port. East West says the site will support tariff mitigation, supply chain diversification and greater sourcing flexibility for OEM customers buying motors for the U.S. market.
That explains why the move matters beyond simple capacity expansion. Motor sourcing has become increasingly tied to tariff exposure, regional concentration risk and customer pressure for dual-country manufacturing options. A Thailand base gives East West and CBM another route for programmes that may previously have defaulted to China.
Dave Purvis, Senior Director of Motor Business Development at East West Manufacturing, said: “This new facility helps us offer customers access to Thailand for motor production. The CBM team identified the final location after researching and exploring a number of options in South Asia.”
CBM, headquartered in Changzhou, has worked with East West for more than 20 years on permanent split capacitor and other electric motors. East West said it was involved through the Thailand site setup to ensure the new plant met quality and regulatory requirements before production ramps.
The location strengthens the logistics case as well as the trade one. Laem Chabang is Thailand’s busiest port and one of the country’s principal export gateways, giving the new plant direct access to shipping routes used for North American traffic. That should help the partners combine manufacturing diversification with a comparatively straightforward outbound route for finished goods.
Charlie Simons, Technical Director of OEM Motor Products at East West, said the Thailand programme had been built around meeting all of the required quality and regulatory requirements during the setup phase.
East West already operates a multi-country manufacturing and engineering network, and the Thai plant fits a wider pattern across industry. Suppliers are not necessarily withdrawing from China altogether, but many are adding parallel capacity in other Asian locations to manage tariffs, resilience and customer-specific sourcing rules.
For OEM buyers, the immediate question will be whether the new site can match existing Chinese output on quality, lead time and compliance. East West is betting that it can, and that the combination of Thailand production and a long-established motor partner will translate into orders.
