Toyota Motor Thailand Co., Ltd., (TMT) has opened its fourth vehicle plant, the 80,000 unit per annum Gateway 2 passenger car complex in Chachoengsao Province. Some 1,500 workers are employed at the new factory.
Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) stated in January 2012 that TMT would open a new facility, Gateway Plant No. 2, in mid-2013 with an annual production capacity of approximately 70,000 units. This, in addition to the existing Gateway 1, would result in a combined annual production capacity of 290,000 units at the two Gateway plants.
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TMT has three existing manufacturing facilities:
- Gateway 1 in Chachoengsao province produces passenger cars
- Ban Pho plant in Chachoengsao and the Samrong plant in Samut Prakarn province builds pick-ups and commercial vehicles
- Toyota Auto Works in Samut Prakan makes vans
The Vios, Camry, Camry Hybrid, Corolla, Prius and Wish are all made at Gateway 1.
Neither TMC nor TMT has confirmed which vehicle(s) will be made at Gateway 2. A so-called ‘Eco Car’ to challenge the Mitsubishi Mirage, Nissan March and Honda Brio is considered the most likely model.
While the addition of Gateway 2 gives TMT overall capacity of 770,000 units, TMC has stated that it sees its Thai operations building up to 1.2 million vehicles per year by 2018. Diesel engine production for the next Hilux and Fortuner models is due to come on stream in 2015.
Last year was a historic one for the Thai automobile industry, with total production of over two million units and domestic sales of over 1.4 million units. TMT, the market leader with a 36 percent share in 2012, had record sales of 516,086 vehicles. This was also the first time Toyota had sold more than half a million units in the Thai market.
Author: Glenn Brooks
