The Nikkei reported that Toyota Motor Corp. plans to lift Thai production capacity to around 600,000 vehicles a year by the middle of 2011, up roughly 20% from present levels, to expand sales mainly in Southeast Asia.
One of the automaker’s three Thai assembly plants, the Ban Pho facility, will see its annual output capacity of roughly 120,000 units rise to around 200,000…The Ban Pho plant is southeast of Bangkok and makes the Hilux Vigo pickup truck and the Fortuner sport utility vehicle, both part of a series of strategic vehicles bound for emerging markets. In addition to Southeast Asia, demand from the Middle East and other export destinations is expected to grow steadily down the road.
...New-car sales in six major Southeast Asian markets, including Thailand and Indonesia, totaled 1.8 million units for the first nine months of 2010. This was up 36% from 2009, with full-year sales forecast to top the 2008 record of 2.09 million units. With a share of 40% in these six markets, Toyota is in the top position. The Asian market outside Japan and China is becoming a core earner for the automaker, with operating profit there swelling 2.5-fold on the year to 164.2 billion yen for the April-September half.
Toyota Motor Thailand Co., Ltd. (TMT) has produced a cumulative 5 million vehicles in Thailand. TMC established TMT in 1962 as its second overseas production site, following Brazil.
