South-east Asia’s car industry is getting ready for the start of partial
free trade in the ASEAN countries next year with new investments and regional
supply strategies, AutoAsia Online said.
From 2002, import duty on fully-assembled vehicles shipped from one ASEAN country
to another will fall to five percent or less. The exception is Malaysia, whose
government insists its national car makers Proton and Perodua need greater protection
from imported competition until 2005.
Go deeper with GlobalData
AutoAsia
Online said that Honda has selected Indonesia as the regional production centre
for its new Stream minivan. Assembly starts later this year at the rate of 7,000-8,000
units a year. Once local sales are established, the plant will begin exporting
to Thailand and other ASEAN markets in 2002.
Passenger car output will be reduced to make room for the Stream leaving a
new plant in Malaysia to supply the Accord and other models to Indonesia.
The new 5 billion yen (US$41 mililon) Malaysian Honda factory in is a joint
venture with DRB-Hicom and Oriental Holdings and will make 20,000 cars a year
by 2003, including the Civic, AutoAsia Online said.
The new company reckons DRB-Oriental-Honda will rival Honda’s well-established
plant in Thailand (which also builds Accords for Australia and New Zealand)
in car output. Capacity will be expanded when the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement
(AFTA) is fully implemented.
How well do you really know your competitors?
Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.
Thank you!
Your download email will arrive shortly
Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sample
We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below form
By GlobalData
Honda
rival Toyota, AutoAsia Online said, has designated Thailand as its key production
base for the new Corolla Altis (the Asian market version of the Corolla) which
will be sold in Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and,
outside ASEAN, Taiwan.
Toyota Thailand also wants to introduce the Vitz (Yaris) subcompact city car
to its assembly lines and eventually export it around South East Asia.
In February, Toyota Motor Corp. increased its stake in Toyota Motor Thailand
from 69.6 percent to 85.3 percent, AutoAsia Online said.
"Our capital increase will streamline the management, production and marketing
systems in order to strengthen our overall competitiveness to become a role
model for other Toyota operations in Asia," TMT president Ryoichi Sasaki
told the website.
"Within three years we aim to achieve 100 percent localisation of our
Thai production by using the AFTA scheme."
AutoAsia Online said that Toyota group companies Hino and Daihatsu are also
increasingly busy in South East Asia.
Hino
will begin exporting trucks from Thailand to other ASEAN countries in 2004 as
its tries to lift annual output at its Thai factory from 3,000 to 20,000 while
Daihatsu is attempting to take over management of Perodua, its Malaysian joint
venture, prior to lifting annual capacity at the second national car maker by
25 percent to 150,000 units.
Daihatsu believes that new investment and increased production capacity is
the only way that the relatively tiny Perodua can compete against imported competition
once the Malaysian market is opened up after 2005, AutoAsia Online said.
Meanwhile, Nissan wants to export its newly-launched Thai-built Almera to other
ASEAN markets and, like Honda, has recently announced more investment in Indonesia.
AutoAsia Online said that Nissan will boost its stake in its Indonesian partner
PT Ismac Nissan Manufacturing from 35 percent to 75 percent and change the name
to Nissan Motor Indonesia.
Hit
hard by the 1998 Asian financial crisis, Ismac stopped production for a time,
restarting only last May. Now the ASEAN trade liberalisation is under way, Nissan
Japan is eager to revive the operation, the website said, adding that the company
is also increasing direct investment in its Thai subsidiaries, Siam Nissan Automobile
Co. and Siam Motors & Nissan Co. Its shareholding in each will rise from
25 percent to nearly 75 percent.
AutoAsia Online said that Nissan wants to boost Thai-built exports.
Earlier, GM and Subaru announced increased co-operation based around the U.S.
company’s new Thai assembly plant. Subaru will sell an increasing number
of cars through GM’s well-established dealer networks in the ASEAN countries
while GM will build Subaru-badged versions of its Zafira minivan for sale in
both Japan and Asia.
GM is also helping its Fiat affiliate boost sales in the ASEAN region by building
the Alfa Romeo 156 in Thailand.
Here are some related news stories:-
THAILAND:
GM to make Alfa 156 in Thailand
JAPAN:
GM to help Subaru double Asian sales
To view related research reports, please follow the links below:- |
The
automotive industries of Asia-Pacific
