With vehicle sales flattening out in the West and in Japan, Japanese automakers are building new plants in Southeast Asia, where sales remain brisk amid strong economic growth.
Isuzu Motors Ltd., a major truck maker, said Sept. 29 it will spend 18 billion yen ($235 million) to construct a new factory in Thailand for compact trucks. It will begin production in autumn 2012.
Pickup trucks are popular in Thailand, where Isuzu sells more than 140,000 units annually.
Isuzu also exports vehicles produced in Thailand to the Middle East, Australia and elsewhere. With the construction of a new plant, the company aims to increase annual output from 280,000 to 400,000 units. Half of the output will be exported.
Isuzu moved its development base for pickups to Thailand in April 2010, and procures 90 percent of the parts in Southeast Asia. It plans to make Thailand a base for development, production and exports of pickups.
"We are also considering making Indonesia or another country a new pole (of production)," Susumu Hosoi, president of Isuzu, said Sept. 29 in Bangkok.
Liberalization of trade is advancing in the region covered by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, where parts can be procured and products can be supplied across borders with no tariffs. Other major automakers are also focusing on Southeast Asia.
Starting in March 2012, Mitsubishi Motors Corp. plans to produce 150,000 units a year of its mainstay compact car models at a new plant in Thailand. In Malaysia, it will tie up with Proton Holdings Berhad, a major government-affiliated automaker.
Mitsubishi intends to reduce production costs by using the same key parts, including engines, in Mitsubishi's new compact car models and Proton's compact cars.
The company projects the auto markets in Thailand and other major ASEAN countries will expand by 30 percent from about 2.4 million units in 2011 to about 3 million units in 2015. Mitsubishi aims to increase its sales share in ASEAN from the current 6.5 percent to 12 percent in fiscal 2015.
Toyota Motor Corp. plans to build a new plant in Indonesia and increase its output capacity from the current 110,000 units to 180,000 in 2013. It plans to turn Indonesia into a second production base in Southeast Asia after Thailand, where it has a production capacity of more than 600,000 units.
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