Germany’s Schaeffler Group began construction of a new THB800m (US$24.5m) wholly owned auto parts plant this week in the Hemaraj Industrial Estate in Thailand’s Chonburi province.
The factory, covering an area of 55,000 square metres, is expected to become operational in the first quarter of 2016. It will produce mainly clutch parts, including clutch release systems, pressure plates and discs, clutch release bearings and synchroniser rings, mechanical belts and hydraulic belt tensioners. Final capacity will be up to 1m units a year for each part.
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A separate subsidiary, Schaeffler Manufacturing (Thailand), obtained approval from Thailand’s Board of Investment in 2012 to spend THB277m on a clutch assembly and parts factory in Rayong, an area home to many automakers’ assembly plants.
Schaeffler eventually gave operational control to an affiliated, German owned auto parts maker, Continental Automotive (Thailand) in which it also holds a stake.
Once the new factory is up and running, operations from the existing plant will be transferred to form a new integrated clutch system manufacturing operation.
The new factory will supply automakers in Thailand and other countries in south east Asiawhere the group already sells to Honda, Mitsubishi and General Motors. The company expects to add Toyota to this list in the near future.
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By GlobalDataSchaeffler expects to increase revenues from its ASEAN operations by 20% this year from an estimated EUR120m (US$136m) last year.
