By Devjyot Ghoshal

BANGKOK, May 16 (Reuters) - Toyota Motor ( TM ) is

testing the new battery-electric Hilux pickup truck to assess

its performance in different conditions as the car maker

prepares to manufacture the vehicle in Thailand by the end of

2025, an executive said on Thursday.

Pickup trucks make up more than half of total vehicle sales

in Thailand, a critical market for Toyota ( TM ) that has been flooded

by a wave of Chinese electric vehicle makers and where the

Japanese auto giant has a large manufacturing base.

"Our intention is to be producing the Hilux BEV over here,"

Pras Ganesh, executive vice president of Toyota Motor Asia told

Reuters on the sidelines of the Future Mobility Asia summit,

referring to the battery-electric vehicle.

Ganesh declined to provide details on pricing or production

volume for the Hilux BEV, which will be Toyota's ( TM ) first EV pickup

truck offering.

Rival Japanese automaker Isuzu Motors ( ISUZF ) also plans to

manufacture its electric D-MAX pickup truck in Thailand, the

Thai government said in March.

The vehicle will be primarily aimed at the Thai domestic

market, but Ganesh said the automaker will also consider

exporting the Hilux BEV.

Toyota ( TM ) is testing the Hilux BEV for multiple use cases in

varying road and temperature conditions.

"The more range I have to put on it, the more battery I have

to put on it, which means the weight of the vehicle also becomes

significantly heavier, which means the loading can be much

less," Ganesh said. "So 'Is it going to meet the customer's

usage needs?' is always our biggest issue. We are always trying

to understand what they do."

Trailing EV industry leaders Tesla and China's BYD

, Toyota ( TM ) has profited from rising demand for hybrid

vehicles as more consumers are embracing petrol-electric

hybrids, the company's traditional strength.

Ganesh said Toyota ( TM ) expects hybrid sales to grow in Thailand

and other Southeast Asian countries, where it faces rising

competition in the segment from cost-competitive rivals

including Great Wall Motor.

In 2023, the company sold a little over 30,000 hybrid cars

in Thailand, contributing about 11.5% of its overall vehicle

sales in the country.