Ford still views Thailand as its most important regional production base

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Ford still views Thailand as its most important regional production base
By Digital Content



BANGKOK, Oct 28 - Thai Minister of Industry Chakramon Phasukavanich quoted a top Ford Motors executive as confirming that Thailand remained as its major automotive production base in the region and it would expand its eco-car production here.

The message came from Ford ASEAN president Matt Bradley who met Mr Chakramon today.

Mr Chakramon said Mr Bradley emphasised that Thailand was Ford's major production base in the region because it closed its plant in the Philippines where Ford Escape vehicles were produced.

The company will invest US$606 million (Bt18 billion) in its expansion here.

In addition, Ford reassured the minister that it would produce environmentally-friendly cars under the Thai government's eco-car 2 investment incentive scheme.

The minister said that Thailand's sluggish automotive market had no significant impact on Ford because it annually produced 150,000 vehicles, exported 100,000 and sold only 50,000 here.

Mr Chakramon said that the national economy should satisfactorily grow by 1.5 per cent throughout this year as Thailand would receive increasing orders for Christmas.

Next year the Thai economy should expand by 3.5-4 per cent, which should help improve the local automotive market, he said. (MCOT online news)


-- TNA 2014-10-28

[ezzra]

No body buy ford cars here unless they stumbled by mistake to the very few show rooms

here and thought they're buying a Toyota....

[craigt3365]

And Toyota is considering moving it's production base for the Fortuner line over to the PI.

http://manilastandardtoday.com/2014/10/22/toyota-may-shift-manufacturing-hub-for-fortuner-to-ph/

Yao said during the recent Philippines-Thailand Business Council and Thailand-Philippines Business Council meeting that Toyota expressed interest in setting up or expanding operations in the Philippines to manage and spread risks.

“More than the incentives, which are fixed by the way, automotive manufacturers are looking for stability of production in the future,” PCCI president Alfredo Yao told reporters in an interview.

Yao said car manufacturers expressed concern over the lingering political instability and the vulnerability of Thailand to floods.

It was on Thai TV a few days ago. The announcer said the quality wasn't what they were expecting here and the language is an issue here, but not as bad in the PI.

[kamahele]

No body buy ford cars here unless they stumbled by mistake to the very few show rooms

here and thought they're buying a Toyota....

You'll notice in the article that the great majority of vehicles produced in Thailand by Ford are for export

[Evolare]

No body buy ford cars here unless they stumbled by mistake to the very few show rooms

here and thought they're buying a Toyota....

Indeed fords are not the most common cars but but their sales are picking up...specially the Ranger has increased its market shares considerably.

[sandrabbit]

No body buy ford cars here unless they stumbled by mistake to the very few show rooms

here and thought they're buying a Toyota....

Plenty of Fords here in Rayong, and Mazda's as the fiesta & focus are produced in the same factory as Mazda 2 & 3. We purchased a fiesta and it's very good, they are voted as one of the best small cars in Europe and Ford's are so popular we phoned yesterday to book it in for a service that we have to a few weeks to get it serviced.

[hansgruber]

Thailand will kill this industry like they kill off all their others.

Rice, tourism and now this.

Factories will move because Thailand doesn't educate people with the most basic of skills.

Sent from my LG-D858

[impulse]

.....Ford's are so popular we phoned yesterday to book it in for a service that we have to a few weeks to get it serviced.

Not too sure having them backed up for service is a good indication of quality.

Still, I've always been a Ford fan, especially their pickups.

But just because the car they build for the European market is a winner, doesn't mean the car they build for other markets are of similar quality or technology.

[utkb]

Ford has been one of my favorite option writing stocks for a few years now.

The street logic is that most US consumers have not been spending money on new cars and as the economy improves this will be one of their first things to purchase. I sold my options when Ford was near 17-18 a share, but looking out 2-3 years with the current trading price of 13.8/share it looks like I need to investigate it again.

As others mention, I would buy Toyota in Thailand for servicing, but as an export to the US market, I'm glad to see Ford helping provide jobs in Thailand.

[Chris Lawrence]

Ford are good at telling people that the sun shines brightly out of their bums. Thats why they have been around for so long.

[TDCNINJA]

And Toyota is considering moving it's production base for the Fortuner line over to the PI.

http://manilastandardtoday.com/2014/10/22/toyota-may-shift-manufacturing-hub-for-fortuner-to-ph/

It was on Thai TV a few days ago. The announcer said the quality wasn't what they were expecting here and the language is an issue here, but not as bad in the PI.

Craig, I've lived in the Philippines for a few years and I can read off the names of a long list of major companies who have started operations in the PI and then departed after a rather short stint.

The level of overt corruption displayed towards foreign companies is overwhelming. Don't want to pay? Immigration starts to conduct inspections on your foreign employees despite the fact that their papers are all in order. The fire marshall starts stopping by telling you that your fire extinguishers need refilling despite the fact that you just bought them new two months ago. City hall shows up and tells you that your licenses are not correct even though they haven't expired yet.

A few "donations" and all these problems will disappear for a month or so and then start all over again.

Me thinks some Toyota senior executive just got his ashes hauled in Manila last week and his new "girl friend" wants him to stay.

Be careful, Toyota, you might just get what you're looking for...

[craigt3365]

And Toyota is considering moving it's production base for the Fortuner line over to the PI.

http://manilastandardtoday.com/2014/10/22/toyota-may-shift-manufacturing-hub-for-fortuner-to-ph/

It was on Thai TV a few days ago. The announcer said the quality wasn't what they were expecting here and the language is an issue here, but not as bad in the PI.

Craig, I've lived in the Philippines for a few years and I can read off the names of a long list of major companies who have started operations in the PI and then departed after a rather short stint.

The level of overt corruption displayed towards foreign companies is overwhelming. Don't want to pay? Immigration starts to conduct inspections on your foreign employees despite the fact that their papers are all in order. The fire marshall starts stopping by telling you that your fire extinguishers need refilling despite the fact that you just bought them new two months ago. City hall shows up and tells you that your licenses are not correct even though they haven't expired yet.

A few "donations" and all these problems will disappear for a month or so and then start all over again.

Me thinks some Toyota senior executive just got his ashes hauled in Manila last week and his new "girl friend" wants him to stay.

Be careful, Toyota, you might just get what you're looking for...

Agreed! But on the Thai TV, they were talking about quality issues and workforce issues here, but the #1 issue was stability (floods, protests, coups, etc). Corruption is bad in both countries. Unfortunately!

[Doc46]

The main reason that Ford build cars in Thailand is,,,,,,Because of the cheap labour and cheap materials so they can make Lots of Money even if they export them,,,,,The other makes do the same as Ford,,Its all about money

[kennw]

Have a Ford Focus 2000 cc TDCI sport. Turbo Diesel, twin clutch auto/manual, great performance, economy and handling. Had Toyota before, prefer the Ford.