With major carmakers hit by a global economic slowdown, Thailand has emerged as a rare bright spot in recent years and won the title of “Detroit of Southeast Asia.” According to the International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers, Thailand’s auto production surged 70% in 2012 to 2.48 million vehicles, whil
With major carmakers hit by a global economic slowdown, Thailand has emerged as a rare bright spot in recent years and won the title of “Detroit of Southeast Asia.”
According to the International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers, Thailand's auto production surged 70% in 2012 to 2.48 million vehicles, while China and India saw only single-digit gains. Thanks to major investments by Japanese auto producers as well as US giant Ford, Thailand is now the most prolific carmaker in the region, ahead of rival Indonesia. Analysts predict that Thailand's auto market will continue to grow at a rate of 10%.
According to Uli Kaiser, President of Industry Analysts at Automotive Focus Group Thailand, “There might be black clouds and problems, but overall the car industry is driven by people with two wheels who want to get four wheels.” Big carmakers, especially many from Japan, are pouring cash into new plants to sell more vehicles to Thailand's burgeoning consumers and take advantage of the country's location in the heart of Southeast Asia.
Take Honda's factory on the outskirts of Bangkok for example. It now takes three days to fully assemble a new car, and more than 1,100 drive off production lines every day. The facility is aiming for 420,000 vehicles per annum by 2015. A new plant is expected to go in production outside Bangkok the same year.
“We [Honda] were severely affected [by the floods of 2011], but we came back to be the company that has the highest growth,” said Pitak Pruittisarkorn, Executive VP of Honda Automobile Thailand. “Now, Thailand is the biggest Honda production base in the region and will [continue to] be in three to five years from now.”