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.