American carmakers eye Asia
By Russell Williamson
The United States big three carmakers, General Motors, Chrysler and Ford are targeting Asian countries from Japan to Indonesia in an attempt to catch up with Japanese manufacturers' dominance in the region.
According to a report in Ward's Automotive International, the Asia Pacific region's car market outside Japan is expected to reach six million vehicles this year rising to 8.5 million by 2000.
General Motor's chief executive, Mr John F Smith Jnr, said: "Clearly this will be the powerhouse automotive market of the early 21st century and General Motors intends to be a significant competitor here."
In Indonesia General Motors assembles Opel Vectras and Optimas and recently added the Blazer which has been a phenomenal success with orders held for more than six month's production.
The company also won a joint venture agreement to assemble 100,000 mid-sized sedans a year in China beginning in 1997, has recently begun assembling Opel Optimas or Astra, as the car is known outside of Indonesia, in India, and is also building the same car in Taiwan.
Delphi Automotive System's, General Motor's components group, is also looking at manufacturing operations in Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia, Australia and India.
However despite this presence, General Motors still only claims a 4.4 percent share of total Asia-Pacific sales.
Ford has yet to make a substantial impact on the Southeast Asian region, although they are planning further investment in Indonesia and are expected to launch the new small Escort sedan here this year, but holds sway elsewhere in Asia.
Together with a 33 percent ownership of Mazda and 10 percent of South Korean carmaker Kia, Ford have established parts making joint ventures in China and have a very substantial presence in Taiwan.
Other assembly operations are planned for India, Vietnam and Thailand, the latter being a joint venture with Mazda to produce small utilities for both the domestic and export markets.
Chrysler's foray into the region has so far been limited largely to Jeep Cherokee sales in Japan and Neon in Taiwan.
In Indonesia, the company has had reasonable success with the Cherokee and plans to introduce the small Neon sedan either towards the end of 1996 or early 1997.
Although the three carmakers appear to have infiltrated the marketplace, Ward's reports that Toyota last year sold nearly 600,000 vehicles in the region, more than sales of the Big Three combined.
Consequently, the U.S. carmakers will have to continue to invest heavily and ensure their products meet the needs of the market if they are to break the stranglehold of Japanese manufacturers.