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.