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Via Bangkok Post : Japanese auto-maker Nissan recently celebrated cumulative production of 2 million vehicles in Thailand at its plant in Samut Prakarn. The new milestone was achieved in January. "Thanks to the growing demand from satisfied customers, Nissan Motor Thailand has reached a new milestone," said NMT president Takayuki Kimura. "Business in Thailand has been growing at a steady yet astonishing pace - especially last year - making it the best year for the automotive industry. Nissan is one of the key brands contributing to this success. In reaching this milestone it truly shows the great results we have achieved. "Making a further commitment to Thailand, Nissan announced last year that it's investing Bt11 billion more for our second plant on Bang Na Trad Road, Km 22, Samut Prakarn. It will initially produce 75,000 vehicles per year starting in August 2014, and this number will increase to 150,000 per year after full production is achieved," he said

Via Bangkok Post : Nissan Motor Thailand vice president for government relations Piengjai Kaewsuwan was unanimously elected new chairperson of the Asean Automotive Federation (AAF) for 2013-2014 at the AAF annual meeting on January 11 in Bangkok. This is great news for Thailand, especially with the coming of the Asean Economic Community (AEC). It is expected that Thailand's strengths in the automotive industry will enable it to strengthen its leadership in Southeast Asia. Last year, Thailand produced more than 2 million vehicles, with domestic sales reaching a record 1.4 million, thanks to the government's First Car Buyer Programme. Apart from her position at Nissan, Piengjai is also president of the Thai Automobile Industry Association (TAIA). She had recently been elected president of the TAIA for a second term.

Mazda will set up a new Powertrain Manufacturing facility in Thailand to produce and sell SkyActiv transmissions for Mazda vehicles with a capacity of 400,000 units/year. SOP will be second half of 2015.

Via Bangkok Post Auto parts shipments are expected to grow by at least 25% this year in line with the flourishing automotive industry. The Thai Autoparts Manufacturers Association (Tapma) expects exports will total US$15 billion this year, up from $11-12 billion last year. "Prospects remain promising on the back of surging automobile and motorcycle production," said president Achana Limpaitoon. Thailand's automotive industry enjoyed a bumper year in 2012, with vehicle production totalling 2.45 million units, up by 68.3% from 2011 and lifting Thailand to 10th place among global automobile producers. Motorcycle production reached 3.14 million units, up by 6.57%. The Federation of Thai Industries' automotive industry club said domestic automobile sales totalled 1.43 million vehicles last year, up by 80.9% from 2011, while motorcycle sales rose by 6.11% to 2.13 million. This year, 2.5 million automobiles will be produced, up by 2%, with 1.4 million slated for domestic sal

Via Bangkok Post : Japanese auto-maker Honda announced that it sold 20,463 passenger cars in December last year, achieving the No 1 sales position in the Thai car market for three consecutive months - from October to December 2012. Honda's accumulated sales from January through December 2012 reached 171,208 vehicles, up 104 per cent over its 2011 sales figures. This is the highest sales in the company's history here - compared to the previous annual sales record of 114,056 vehicles achieved in 2010 - despite the fact that Honda managed full production for only nine months of 2012. During the nine months after officially resuming full production at its Ayutthaya manufacturing plant (April to December), Honda reached a sales high of 168,473 vehicles. Sales grew at 213 per cent, or triple the sales figure in the same period in 2011 (53,871 vehicles) and twice the total overall market growth of 106 per cent. Honda enjoyed a market share of 30 per cent in the car segment during the

Via Bangkok Post : Toyota, Thailand's biggest car maker, plans to invest 12 billion baht in a new factory at Gateway 2 in Chachoengsao, touting a new eco-car as the first model. Domestic demand for new cars will moderate as the government’s first-time buyer scheme ends, according to Mr Tanada. SOMCHAI POOMLARD The plant will be fully operational by the third quarter of 2013 and have an annual capacity of 300,000 units a year, said Kyoichi Tanada, president of Toyota Motor Thailand. The new factory is an expansion of Toyota's existing plant at Gateway. According to Mr Tanada, Toyota's first facility in Thailand at Samrong in Samut Prakan recently kicked off assembly of the Hiace Commuter High-Roof van, after a capital investment of 1.5 billion baht. The output handled by Toyota Auto Works Co, formerly known as Thai Auto Works, will substitute imports. With 300 employees and one shift a day initially, production capacity will be increased by two shifts to 18,000 annually by m

RIDE ASIAONE translates a press release... BANGKOK - Thai automotive industry sales look set to drop 16 per cent in 2013, retreating from a record 2012 boosted by government subsidies, Toyota Motor Corp's Thai unit said on Monday. The group said it expected sales to decline to 1.2 million vehicles this year, after an 80 per cent surge in 2012 fuelled by government subsidies for buyers of first cars. Industry sales had jumped to a record 1.43 million vehicles in 2012, also boosted by pent-up demand after severe flooding in late 2011, Kyoichi Tanada, president of the Toyota Motor Thai unit, told a news conference. "Thai auto sales this year will not fall much from last year. We think the economy will still be good, but there is no first-car scheme this year," he said. For Toyota itself, 2013 sales are set to fall 3.1 per cent to 500,000 units, giving it a 40 per cent market share, with sales of passenger cars down 11 per cent. It aims for exports of 412,000 vehicles worth 1

Toyota Thailand will invest 12 billion baht in a new factory at Gateway 2 in Chachoengsao, with a new eco-car as the first model. According to Kyoichi Tanada, president of Toyota Thailand, the plant will be fully operational by the third quarter of 2013 and have an annual capacity of 300,000 units which will bring Toyota Thailand's total capacity to over one million vehicles per year!

Bridgestone, yesterday announced plans to establish a new technical centre in Thailand costing 1.24 billion baht. Located in the Bangkok suburbs, business operations are scheduled to begin in July. The new centre is estimated to employ 100 staff by 2015. It will carry out the functions of tyre development, tyre production technology and quality management for Asia-Pacific, previously handled in Japan. With this shift, Bridgestone intends to establish a framework for research and development that will be able to reflect timely information from markets. As markets in Asia continue to grow and diversify rapidly, Bridgestone believes strengthening its technical support will enable it to respond to customers' needs more quickly by raising its levels of safety, environmental awareness, quality and delivery capabilities. Via Bangkok Post

Chevrolet, part of US-based General Motors (GM), ended 2012 with record-breaking sales growth of 139% over 2011, thanks to the government's first-time car buyer scheme and strong post-flood demand. The first-time car buyer scheme and strong post-flood demand carried Chevrolet to 139% sales growth in 2012, says Mr Apfel. Some 75,461 Chevrolet cars were sold last year, higher than the combined 66,733 units sold from 2009 through 2011. "2012 was a very good year for us as we launched three new models, expanded our dealership and surpassed our sales from 2009 to 2011," said Martin Apfel, president of GM's Southeast Asia operations. The industry expanded 80% in 2012 to sell 1.4 million vehicles, of which Chevrolet gained a market share of 5.3%, up by 1.3% the year before. Mr Apfel cited the first-time car buyer scheme for helping to increase vehicle sales, while demand carried over from 2011. Industry growth for 2013 is expected to be lower at 1.2 million units to be sold.

Take a look at up-coming cars of 2013: from below 1 million-baht to above 10-million-baht ranges. Check out the full range at  Bangkok Post

The Thai unit of Japan's Mazda Motor expects to lift sales by another 10% this year after posting record sales of 73,764 units in 2012, helped by the government's first-time car buyer scheme. New models and limited editions will be launched each quarter, says Mr Yuki. Choichi Yuki, managing director of Mazda Sales (Thailand), said the company is aiming for total sales of 80,000 units this year. "The company saw an excellent performance in 2012, increasing 76% from 41,980 units the year before. The Thai automobile market, meanwhile, was able to achieve record sales of almost 1.42 million units, equivalent to a growth of 79%," he said. "The growth does not stop there. This will be a year of intense competition and auto sales are expected to exceed the 1-million-unit mark for the second time with a total of 1.2-1.3 million units." The 2013 company sales target will be made up of 60% passenger cars and 40% pick-up trucks, which is a highly challenging market for

New vehicle sales in Indonesia increased by 11.4% to 89,456 units in December, from 80,325 units a year earlier, according to data released by local industry association Gaikindo. Full year sales rose by almost 25% to a new record of 1,116,230 units, from 894,164 units in 2011, with increased borrowing and strong domestic economic growth driving sales ever higher. Interest rates are at record lows at present, with the Bank Indonesia overnight lending rate at 5.75% and with commercial banks offering further discounted rates. Via JustAuto

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 11 — At its peak, four of every five cars sold in Malaysia was a Proton, but the carmaker is now in danger of slipping into third spot in sales behind Toyota and Perodua, the second national car company that has ruled the roost for over six years. Industry sources told The Edge newspaper in an article published today that Proton saw its market share slip in December 2012 to just 17.7 per cent, with Toyota now a close third at 17.1 per cent share of passenger vehicle sales in the country. “Perodua (Perusahaan Otomobil Kedua Sdn Bhd) is the runway market leader while Proton over the last few years has been a strong second. Now Toyota is closing in on Proton’s position,” an unnamed executive told the financial daily. Proton is controlled by Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary’s DRB-Hicom. Industry executives told the financial daily that Proton’s sales fell by over 11 per cent to 140,000 units from 158,000 units a year earlier, missing the company’s target of 200,000 units b

Via the NATION : Honda Automobile (Thailand) is one of 11 companies that have won financial support from the government's post-flood investment rehabilitation fund. Honda, which shut down its manufacturing plant in Ayutthaya for six months, won Bt2.5 billion in support for its engine-manufacturing project with capacity of 440,000 units a year. At the site, Honda churns out 240,000 vehicles per annum. According to Industry Minister Prasert Boonchaisuk, the sub-committee tasked with rehabilitation investment has approved 32 flood-rehabilitation projects in Ayutthaya and Pathum Thani worth Bt27.96 billion. It has also approved financial support to seven new investment projects worth Bt3.5 billion. The financial support has covered only one relocation of a manufacturing plant: that of TAC Consumer, which is investing Bt6.85 million to produce 2,250 tonnes of feed meal per annum. The other beneficiaries are: Imasen Manufacturing (Thailand), which will maintain its factory in Ayutthaya t

The outlook for the Thai auto industry in 2013 remains bright, partially propelled by the demand from export markets. Last year the industry attracted more than Bt100 billion in terms of additional investment from auto and auto-parts makers. Sales surged by 70 per cent to achieve a record 1.4 million vehicles, thanks to demand carried over from flood-stricken 2011 and the first-car-buyer programme. More than a million people received excise tax rebates a year after making their purchase. This year's auto production is targeted at 2.5 million units, said Suparat Sirisuwannangkura, chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI)'s Automotive Industry Club (AIC), with about 1.3-1.4 million for the domestic market. "The reason sales will remain at the same level as 2012 is because there is a large amount of back orders carried over from 2012 - as many as 500,000 vehicles covering the third quarter of 2013. However, we also predict that as much as 30 per cent of the orders