Chrysler's hub in Thailand

Chrysler's hub in Thailand

BANGKOK (AFP): U.S. car and truck manufacturer Chrysler expects to make Thailand its hub for Southeast Asia while pursuing investments in other regional countries, corporation chairman Robert Eaton said yesterday.

The region "is where the action is in the automobile industry right now and, as we believe, going forward," he told the American Chamber of Commerce here.

He said he saw potential for investment in Vietnam in addition to small operations already under way in Malaysia and Indonesia.

"We are looking at both investment in other countries and this (Thailand) as a potential hub," he said in answer to a question, adding later: "This will likely be our hub."

Chrysler sold some 60,000 units in the Asia-Pacific region in 1994, a 68 percent increase on the figures for the previous year, Eaton told the meeting. He said Taiwan was the largest single overseas market for the company.

In Singapore on Thursday, General Motors announced it had sold 547,200 units in the Asia-Pacific region last year, an increase of 10.3 percent.