GM opens $640m plant in Thailand<\/p>\n
RAYONG, Thailand (AP): General Motors Corp. (GM) formally
\nopened its new US$640 million assembly plant in Thailand Monday,
\ngiving a boost to the Southeast Asian country's hopes of becoming
\nthe \"Detroit of Asia.\"<\/p>\n
GM's President G. Richard Wagoner Jr. drove the first 7-seat
\nChevrolet \"Zafira\" off the production line at the GM Thailand
\nAssembly Center at Rayong, 145 kilometers south of Bangkok, in
\nfront of its 600-strong workforce.<\/p>\n
Completed 16 months behind schedule because of Asia's economic
\ncrisis of 1997, the plant is set to manufacture 8,000 units this
\nyear, rising to 40,000 next year. Some 85 to 90 percent of
\nproduction will be for export.<\/p>\n
GM originally planned for a 100,000 unit capacity, but scaled
\nback its plans after the crisis knocked the bottom out of the
\nregional auto market.<\/p>\n
Sales are now recovering. Thailand's exports of automobiles
\nand parts soared by 80 percent in 1999.<\/p>\n
Wagoner paid tribute to the Rayong workforce, declaring that
\nthe plant's quality standards would allow export to \"some of the
\nmost discriminating markets in the world.\"<\/p>\n
The plant will be dedicated to producing the Zafira, a cross
\nbetween a minivan and a more traditional sedan, which is set to
\nbe the first vehicle from Thailand's burgeoning auto industry to
\nbe exported to Europe.<\/p>\n
It is also set for export to Latin America, Asia and
\nAustralasia, extending the East Asian markets that most Thai auto
\nproduction has served until now.<\/p>\n
Thailand has turned into an offshore manufacturing platform
\nfor many of the world's biggest automakers from Japan and the
\nUnited States. Most originally intended to serve the large Thai
\ndomestic market, but shifted their strategies toward export after
\nthe economic crisis bit heavily into local purchases.<\/p>\n
A statement from GM said more than 275,000 Zafiras have been
\nordered since the car's European debut in April last year.<\/p>\n
Around 450 have so far been ordered in Thailand. The first
\nowner took delivery Monday but others will begin receiving their
\nvans in June.<\/p>",
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