GM opens automotive plant in Thailand
GM opens automotive plant in Thailand
RAYONG, Thailand (DPA): General Motors (Thailand) opened a US$650 million automotive assembly plant in southeast Thailand on Thursday and called it a linchpin to the world's largest automotive company's expansion into the Asia Pacific region.
Thailand's Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn officially opened the plant, 130 kilometers southeast of Bangkok in the Eastern Seaboard Industrial Estate, often called the "Detroit of the East" because of the numerous automotive and vehicle parts factories in the area.
General Motors Corporation Board Chairman John Smith Jr said his company brought its experience from all its other plants and the Thai factory is as good as any in the world.
The fully-integrated plant, with press, body, paint and final assembly shops, is the most modern in Thailand and will produce about 8,000 cars this year, with plans to increase production to nearly 60,000 in 2001, General Motors (Thailand) President William Botwick said.
Total export value of the vehicles produced at the Thai plant will be between $550 and 600 million, with 90 percent of production going to foreign markets, Botwick said.
The Thai plant, which will employ 1,200 by the end of the year, was modeled on a GM plant in Eisenach, Germany. They will be the only two factories producing the Zafira, a seven-seat passenger mini-van.
"We are still focusing all our efforts making sure the Zapira launch is successful, but we are studying hard, various alternatives," for the future, Botwick said.
Small utility vehicles such as pickup trucks, which make up more than half of the Thai market, are among the other vehicles under consideration, he added.
Demand for the Zafira exceeds the volume of 60,000 units the company plans to reach next year, and plans are already in the works to increase capacity to 130,000 after the factory is expanded, Botwick said.
"We are looking at getting to capacity in 2004 or 2005, possibly a little earlier. The implementation of AFTA (ASEAN Free Trade Area) on a timely basis would obviously help," Botwick said.
The Asia region, from India to Japan to Australia, looks like it will expand on the current 12.8 million vehicles sold per year by 6 per cent annually, Rudolph Schlais, president of G.M. Asia Pacific said.
He added that although it is a very competitive market, G.M. plans to remain the world's largest producer of cars.
In Thailand the company's aim is to be one of the big three sellers, with at least a 10 percent share of the market, by 2004, Schlais said.
General Motors Corporation brands include Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac, Oldsmobile, GMC, Holden, Opel, Pontiac, Saturn, Saab and Vauxhall.
G.M. also owns 49 percent of Isuzu, 20 percent each Subaru and Fiat, and 10 percent of Suzuki.