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The presentation from last Fridays AFG Meeting is ready for online viewing and download. Please click here to access the presentation.

A very interesting evening with more than 40 members attending the presentation of Khun Charn Saralertsophon, Executive VP from Federation of Thai Industries (FTI). Khun Charn covered the effect of the 'Great Flood' in 2011 emphasizing the resilience of the industry which is expected to 'bounce back' and display further growth in 2012 and the following years. The presentation will be made available for download within the next days for AFG Members. In an unannounced surprise presentation, Uli Kaiser introduced a preview of the upcoming THAI AUTO BOOK 2012 which will be available for the iPad. It's a comprehensive directory of Thai based OEM's Tier 1s, organizations, industrial parks, events and supporting industries providing basic information about the companies, address data, contact information, maps and is aimed at professionals both in Thailand as well as in ASEAN and overseas in Europe and the US. You can register your business for free here . A directory...

The Thai Automotive Industry Association (TAIA) said on Tuesday that flood-affected auto makers in the country would resume full production by the first quarter of 2012, Thai News Agency (TNA) reported.

The first month of the New Year is about to pass by but the problems caused by the flood last year have not been completely taken care of. Honda, the second-biggest passenger-car manufacturer in the country, is still unable to resume production while other major auto-makers, despite not being directly affected by the flood, are facing parts disruption and are not capable of producing at full capacity.

The Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) on Monday said it expects automotive production in the country to reach a record high of two million vehicles in 2012. This would translate into a year-on-year increase of 37 percent compared to 2011 when production plunged 11.4 percent to 1.46 million vehicles. Of total, 733,950 were manufactured for export, accounting for 50.3 percent of total. This showed a 17.9 percent drop from a year earlier. Domestic demand decreased as slightly as 0.80 percent, as 794,080 vehicles were sold in 2011.

BMW reaffirmed its position on the implementation of a carbon dioxide (CO2) emission-based excise tax rate for vehicles to enable Thailand's automobile industry to achieve sustainable development and set a precedent for global environmental concerns. Thailand's current excise tax system for vehicles is calculated based on engine size and horsepower. BMW said engine displacement and horsepower are not indicators of an environmentally friendly vehicle as opposed to the level of CO2 emissions. Thai governments have discussed BMW's policy for many years, said Ronald Gentsch, managing director for vehicle distribution at BMW AG and honorary investment adviser at the BoI Fair 2011.

Sales fell 0.9 percent to 599,877 units as Japan's earthquake and tsunami and record floods in neighbouring Thailand caused supply chain disruptions, said Aishah Ahmad, head of the Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA). Malaysia -- Southeast Asia's second-largest vehicle market after Indonesia, according to the MAA -- had seen 2010 sales grow 12.7 percent to 605,156 units thanks to a robust domestic economy and strong consumer confidence.

New Auto Show at BITEC: The First Auto Show Thailand 2012 (FAST), the newest member of Thailand's myriad motor shows, will be held from Feb 29-March 4 at the Bangkok International Trade & Exhibition Center (Bitec) on Bang Na-Trat Road. The event is indeed the first auto show on the calendar. King of Auto Products (KAP), the organiser and subsidiary of Autocar (Thailand), said the inaugural edition of FAST is purely an automobile sales event, with an emphasis on certified used cars.

Indonesia has replaced Thailand as ASEAN`s biggest automotive market with car sales reaching 890,410 units in 2011. "Thailand has been projected to restrain with a total industrial volume of 800,300 units from year to year in 2011," Vice President of Automotive Practice at the research company Frost & Sullivan Asia Pasifik, Vivek Vaidya, said in Jakarta on Wednesday. First Chairman of the Association of Indonesian Motor Vehicles Industry (Gaikindo) Jongkie D Sugiarto also said that Indonesia`s car sales in 2011 had exceeded Thailand`s.

The automotive industry was upgraded to “overweight” from “neutral” by Suchot Tirawannarat, an analyst at KGI Securities (Thailand) Pcl, who cited the recovery of production following floods in the country. The analyst’s top buys are Somboon Advance Technology Pcl (SAT TB) and Aapico Hitech Pcl (AH TB).

Toyota Motor Corp said on Tuesday it would spend 8.2 billion baht ($257 million) on investment in Thailand, showing its confidence in the Southeast Asian car sector hub despite floods last year that caused severe disruption to the sector. The Japanese car maker is building a manufacturing plant at Gateway industrial park and restarting a production line at its Thai Auto Works (TAW) plant, where its Fortuners were produced, Kyoichi Tanada, president of the Toyota Motor Thai unit, told a briefing.

Malaysia's state investment firm said it will sell its 43% stake in national car maker Proton Holdings Bhd., the latest in a series of government sales meant to spur growth in the important Southeast Asian economy. The sale, to Malaysian conglomerate DRB-Hicom Bhd. for 1.29 billion ringgit ($412 million), also could also Proton's competitiveness in a crowded Asian auto market.

Ford Motor Co. said floods in Thailand caused a 2011 loss for its Asia Pacific and Africa region, preventing the automaker from achieving its goal to be profitable in all its global business units. “The impact of the Thai floods is a bit bigger than we anticipated,” Ford Chief Financial Officer Lewis Booth told analysts yesterday in a presentation at the Detroit auto show. “We guided in the third quarter that all business units would be profitable for the full year. We now think that’s no longer possible because of the impact of the Thai floods.”

(Reuters) - Robert Bosch GmbH ROBG.UL, the world's largest car parts maker, is to sell what remains of its low-tech brakes business to KPS Capital Partners, a U.S. buyout firm which one source familiar with the deal said paid around 200 million euros. Bosch, like other global players in the auto parts markets, wants to focus on more profitable high-tech components, leaving production of more mainstream parts to rivals with a lower cost base.

NATURAL disasters took the wind out of last year's vehicle market and robbed it of a potential record after tens of thousands of sales were lost, the industry said yesterday. Australia broke the million mark for only the fourth time last year -- with 1,008,437 vehicles sold -- but the total was 2.6 per cent down on 2010 and more than 40,000 below forecast. The earthquake and tsunami in Japan and floods in Thailand combined to choke supply while devastated communities from Queensland to Western Australia put a lid on demand, the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries said, in what was an unprecedented year of "uncertainty and instability".

Interesting interview with Proton Holdings Bhd chairman Datuk Mohd Nadzmi Mohd Salleh on his plan of action for Proton, if he were to get the stake from Khazanah Nasional.

Suzuki Motor Corp. (7269.TO) said Wednesday it will build a new engine factory in Indonesia as part of a Y60 billion ($779 million) expansion to increase output of small, four-wheeled vehicles in the fast-growing Southeast Asian market. "Suzuki Motor Corp plans to invest nearly $800 million to expand its automobile production facilities in Indonesia over the next two years," Soebronto Laras, the president of Jakarta-based PT Suzuki Indomobil Motor, told the Wall Street Journal.

Is this a Chance for Thailand?? China has said it will withdraw support for foreign investment in the country's car industry to encourage domestic carmakers, according to state media. The Xinhua news agency cited a joint announcement from the Ministry of Commerce and the National Reform and Development Commission. The report did not provide details of what support was being withdrawn. Some of the world's largest carmakers, including America's General Motors and Germany's Volkswagen, operate in China.

Ford Motor Co. will unveil a new, compact sport-utility vehicle in New Delhi, India, this week that is designed to help the auto maker carve bigger inroads in one of the fastest growing auto markets in the world. The small utility vehicle, called the EcoSport, will be built on the same underpinnings as the auto maker's subcompact Ford Fiesta and likely will be sold first in Asia and South America. Pricing and availability of the vehicle have not been disclosed.

PETALING JAYA: Perusahaan Otomobil Kedua Sdn Bhd (Perodua) managing director Datuk Aminar Rashid Salleh expects total industry volume in the automotive sector to grow between 2.5% and 3% this year. “This belief is supported by two main factors. The first is the Government's efforts to spur economic growth and the second is the launch of new models by various players. “We believe that the automotive sector would benefit from these investments as historically the total industry volume sales trend has always tracked the country's economic performance,” he told StarBiz. Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) president Datuk Aishah Ahmad had predicted that vehicle sales for 2011 would reach 605,000 units. Top seller: The 1.5-litre Myvi SE beside Aminar Rashid