Hino delays new RI plant

Hino delays new RI plant

TOKYO (AFP): Japan's Hino Motors Ltd. is to postpone building a truck plant in Indonesia and slash its staff in Thailand due to the region's economic woes, officials said yesterday.

The company, Japan's major truck maker and a member of the Toyota Motor Corp. group, would delay construction in Indonesia for a few years as truck sales had plunged more than 50 percent, an official for Hino said.

"The sales in Indonesia dropped sharply due to the economic and currency crisis there and we have decided to delay construction until the market recovers," the official said.

The company would cut the number of staff at its plant in Thailand from 700 to 300 "for the same reasons seen in Indonesia," the official said.

Hino Motor's plant in Thailand has a capacity to produce 1,300 trucks a month, with annual output at 14,600 units, the official added.