Ford launches Thai outlets

Ford launches Thai outlets

BANGKOK (AP): After testing Thailand's automotive after-sales market with a chain of parts and service centers, Ford Motor Co. is plunging ahead by setting up stores to sell parts to wholesale customers, an executive said.

The Parts Point stores, the first opened this month, are a spinoff of the 30-branch B-Quik chain, which is part of Ford's subsidiary Automotive Consumer Service Group, said Wachira Yongyai, B-Quik Service Company's general manager.

Ford established B-Quik in Thailand more than a year ago by buying out a local parts and service firm, Boonphong, and rebranding it, said Wachira, who spoke at an auto show last week in Bangkok.

Parts Point, which will handle parts for all makes of autos and motorcycles, plans to open four branches here this year, he said.

The Parts Point network is already established in Taiwan and Australia and there are plans to expand it further this year to at least two more countries, said David Kennedy, Parts Point's chief operating officer.

Possible new markets include South Korea, New Zealand, South Africa, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines.