Asean Aec Car Imports

[sushi5734]

I have read a few articles recently about the impact of the future ASEAN economic community on the car market across SE Asia, there seem to be quite few European manufactures building assembly plants VW in Malaysia AUDI/VW in Indonesia etc.

Now normally I would expect the usual protectionism by the Thai government to kick in and put a stop to this, but it's actually within Thailand's interests as they manufacture/assemble the highest number of cars in SE Asia and it opens up 600 million potential customers and it should make them ASEAN's biggest car exporter.

It could mean cheaper European cars being available from 2015 onwards.

[BSJ]

I know some people think Euro cars are better than Japanese cars, but I prefer the later. Even Thai made Japanese cars are pretty good cars.

[funcat]

I know some people think Euro cars are better than Japanese cars, but I prefer the later. Even Thai made Japanese cars are pretty good cars.

...but still,what's better than German cars?

[sushi5734]

Japanese cars are definitely better than they used to be but I'd still take a Volkswagen, Volvo or a BMW over a Honda or Toyota any day of the week, they just haven't quite got the hang of understated quality and the finishes feel like cheap plastic even in the the top of the range models, there's no point in adding a 'sophisticated' walnut panel if the rest of the car feels like sh!te and it's got the same led clock as a 1994 Toyota Corolla!!

I think the European cars will still be more expensive than Japanese cars here, but at least there's a possibility that they won't be double or treble the price of he same model back home. VW are making the passat in Malaysia (only one trim level but fully loaded) and a direct conversion of the malaysian price, comes to about 1.6 million baht, I then went onto the uk VW website and 'built' the same spec car and it was about £3-4k cheaper. I did the same comparison a few years ago for a golf and it was over double the price!

The more cars available, the better it is for the Thai consumers.

[IMHO]

There's already a duty-free agreement between Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines for motor vehicles, so the AEC isn't going to have a big impact on car prices.

[Jitar]

Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia have been remarkably good at protecting their domestic car industries despite the trade agreements IMHO refers to.

Pricing and sales are still heavily influenced by taxes indirectly related to country of manufacture, e.g. Pickups in Thailand, Innova / Avanza in Indonesia and Proton in Malaysia.

[sushi5734]

From what I've read the car must be a CKD (complete knock down) assembly and 40% of the parts must be locally sourced and several companies are readying themselves for 2015. The Thai government might loose a bit of import tax but the benefits far outweigh the downsides, Thailand will get a big boost to its economy as its already the car manufacturing hub of S.E. Asia.

Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore etc. aren't stupid and they won't stand for Thailand blocking imports and Thailand has far more to lose.

This is an interview with the president of Toyota Thailand

http://www.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne%2BNews/Business/Story/A1Story20120917-372026.html

This is an article on VW Malaysia

http://www.motortrader.com.my/news/finally-a-locally-assembled-vw/

These cars are defiantly going to be more expensive than a Honda civic, because they will still be viewed as premium models but they won't be insanely expensive because of import tax.

[kartman]

I think once Yontrakit gets hold of any VW it becomes Insanely expensive wherever it will come from.