Thailand: The Detroit of South East Asia

Thailand’s automotive industry is as strong as ever after an unveiling of major projects by leading auto companies. The sudden increase of new investment in an already robust sector is pushing the country closer to the goa of being a global Top 10 automaker by 2014, when local capacity is projected to hit 2.3 million units.

The furry of investment announcements started with the Ford Motor Company has built a 15 billion baht (US$450 million) stateof- the-art passenger car plant in Rayong province. The 750,000sqm factory has an initial capacity of 150,000 units.

Joe Hinrichs, group vice president and president of Ford Asia Pacific and Africa, said the new project underscores the company’s long-term commitment to Thailand. “The decision to build our new plant was supported by Thailand’s world-class automotive industry and logistics and export infrastructure,” he remarked.

Toyota Motor Thailand also announced that it will invest 4 billion baht to expand its Chachoengsao province plant to 200,000 units per year, as current capacity cannot meet rising demand. One of the plant’s key lines will be the so-called innovative international multipurpose vehicle or IMV.

Becoming the third major automaker to unveil expansion plans within a period of just two weeks, Mitsubishi Motors Corp. revealed intentions to build a 15 billion baht eco-car manufacturing plant in Chonburi province. This represents the company’s largest ever investment in Thailand and its biggest facility outside Japan. The plant eventually will have an annually capacity of 200,000 small fuel-efficient and eco-friendly cars, with production scheduled to begin in 2012.

Strong and mature

The Thai auto industry has grown from its infancy with just one automotive assembly plant in 1961 to a mature world- class production centre currently ranking 13th globally. Nearly all of the world’s major automakers, assemblers, and parts and components manufacturers have established production operations in the country. In fact, Thailand produced more than 1.4 million vehicles in 2008, and the lions share came from thPuma Rihanna