Thailand Southeast Asian hub
for all Toyota models
By Jon Fernquest |
Today's Bangkok Post business section looks at how Thailand has become the Southeast Asian hub for Toyota's automobile production:
"Thailand has become the regional production hub for all Toyota car models for export to Asean for both fully built units and assembly kits, according to Toyota Motor Thailand Co president Mitsuhiro Sonoda. The models include the Camry, Corolla Altis, Vios, Yaris and Wish compact multi-purpose vehicles (MPV).(See photo of Corolla Altis on right)
With the all-new Corolla Altis sedan launched yesterday, Toyota has positioned the car as a key product from its Thai plant for export to Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. Production in all three countries has already ceased. Before the Corolla Altis, only Toyota's Hilux Vigo pickup trucks in Thailand were exported globally.
Fully-built units would also be exported to Singapore and Brunei. Toyota would also continue to ship assembly kits for the new Corolla to markets with high tax barriers...
...Thailand was also selected as the regional production hub for Camry, Vios and Yaris sedans and Wish compact MPVs for export to Asean. They were exported in the form of fully built units and assembly kits."
(See photo of one of the first minivans in history in England to the right)
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"50% of the Corolla Altis units made in Thailand would be set aside for exports, expected to start in July...Toyota yesterday introduced the new Corolla Altis as the 10th generation to the Thai market - the vehicle has been around for over 40 years. Over the decades, more than 455,000 units have been sold locally.
"The Corolla has played a major role in contributing to Toyota's market share and making it number one in the Thai car market," said Mr Sonoda."
As Thailand's automobile industry develops, the cars are gradually becoming 100% "Made in Thailand": "The new Corolla Altis uses 83% local content with a small portion from Asean and Japan."
Reaching a stage of 100% local content in automobile production was a historic milestone of self-sufficiency and a source of great pride among South Koreans when they reached this stage.
Thailand is likely to reach this stage of automobile production in the near future.
Read more Bangkok Post articles on Thailand's automobile industry and transportation sector.
(Source: Bangkok Post, business section, 30-01-08, temp-link)
Vocabulary:
a hub - an important center for an activity
a regional production hub - the center for producing a product in a region, such as Southeast Asia
fully built units - cars that are already completely assembled
a kit - a set of parts that can be put together to make something
car assembly kits - all the parts necessary to assemble a car (the only input needed is the labour to assemble them)
Corolla Altis - "a luxury version of the Corolla model sold from late 2001, the Southeast Asian variant of the ninth-generation Corolla is bigger and more luxurious compared to the Japanese Corolla. The Corolla Altis features unique interior and exterior panels that separates it from the basic Corolla. The Corolla Altis is targeted at consumers who prefer more comfort than the current Corolla but do not wish to buy the more luxurious Camry (See Wikipedia on Toyota Corolla in Southeast Asia)
multi-purpose - can be used to do many different kinds of activities
compact - small and takes up very little space
multi-purpose vehicles (MPV) - also known as a minivan, a type of automobile similar in shape to a van that is designed for personal use. Minivans are taller than a sedan, hatchback or a station wagon, and are designed for maximum interior room (See Wikipedia on minivan and car classification)
a sedan - a car with seats for four or more people, a fixed roof, and a trunk that is separate from where the passengers sit
launched - launch a product, when a company officially starts sales of a product (usually with a big show and promotional campaign)
positioned - positioning a product (See Wikipedia on positioning in marketing)
ceased - stopped
markets with high tax barriers - import taxes make fully assembled cars expensive (so the parts which are taxed less are imported and then assembled)
goes hand-in-hand with - goes together with, happens at the same time as
set aside X for Y - do not use X but keep X for some special purpose Y
market share - the percentage of sales in a market that a company possesses
local content - the parts and raw materials used in a product that are produced within the country rather than shipped in as imports
a milestone - an important event that is a symbol of something (for example, cars that are 100% made in a country are a symbol of self-suffiency for that country)
self-sufficiency - able to produce everything needed by oneself
