Jaguar Land Rover studying possibility of ASEAN assembly plant – Thailand and Malaysia shortlisted

land rover defender assembly

According to news reports, Jaguar Land Rover is reportedly looking into the feasibility of adding on a regional assembly plant in South-East Asia, with Thailand and Malaysia on the shortlist for locations.

This won’t be anytime soon though – the Tata-owned automaker says that higher sales numbers are needed before an assembly plant in the region becomes a viable proposition. Both Jaguar and Land Rover sold a combined 120 vehicles in Thailand last year, though sales are expected to rise to around 500 to 600 units in 2015, The Bangkok Post said.

“We may think about the plan once sales in Thailand hit 2,000-3,000 units a year, possibly over the next five years,” Serge Touron, the newly appointed general manager of Jaguar Land Rover Thailand, was quoted as saying.

Meanwhile, JLR Thailand MD Sanpong Chuenroj said that a regional assembly plant wiill allow pricing to be reduced by 20-40%, potentially increasing ASEAN sales volume from 3,000 to 5,000 units.

Thai distributor RMA group has proposed to become JLR’s regional assembler. The company also performs large scale vehicle modification operations for Ford and Land Rover in Chonburi. In Malaysia, Sime Darby assembles the Land Rover Defender for the domestic market, but on a very small scale.

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Anthony Lim

Anthony Lim believes that nothing is better than a good smoke and a car with character, with good handling aspects being top of the prize heap. Having spent more than a decade and a half with an English tabloid daily never being able to grasp the meaning of brevity or being succinct, he wags his tail furiously at the idea of waffling - in greater detail - about cars and all their intrinsic peculiarities here.

 

Comments

  • longjaafar on Jul 27, 2015 at 11:11 am

    In a situation like this, a bold decision is necessary. JLR cannot wait for volume to go up before considering assembly. The tax regime in this region broadly favours an ASEAN assembled car.
    My view is that if assembled in the ASEAN region, where member countries will benefit from low duties, JLR sales will shoot up.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 8 Thumb down 1
    • kzm (Member) on Jul 27, 2015 at 3:50 pm

      It is better JLR assemble in thailand..higher quality than boleh assemble..just look at bmw, mercedes, toyota, honda etc all have lower quality than import. Most boleh pipu don’t like boleh assemble car anyway..

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 6
  • Aero (Member) on Jul 27, 2015 at 11:25 am

    I was hoping JLR would consider assembling their cars in Malaysia to bring down prices to match the Germans. The new XE, if CKD-ed will probably end up in the C-Class’ pricing range.

    I personally feel that JLR should be wary of the political instability in Thailand, which has reduced their new car sales market this year and raised household debt to over 85%. Malaysia is not much better off, but our luxury car market is booming somewhat as evident with Mercedes-Benz Malaysia’s recent sales figures.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 13 Thumb down 0
    • Jonn Dol on Jul 27, 2015 at 3:01 pm

      FYI, JLR had visited several Malaysian car assembly plants/lines last year. But still no concrete decision yet on CKD’ing..

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 1
  • seancorr (Member) on Jul 27, 2015 at 11:39 am

    Thailand looks like a better proposition at the moment. In Malaysia we have too many jokers running the country that its a comical play when one of them opens their mouth and these people are supposedly ‘graduates’ from universities.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 17 Thumb down 17
    • Wellll on Jul 27, 2015 at 1:21 pm

      Let’s be honest, Thailand isnt that much better either

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 13 Thumb down 3
    • We at least still have political stability by never changing Gov.
      Thailand keep suffer the chaos when Red change to Yellow and vice-versa

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 3
    • HamEED KOYAKUTTY on Jul 28, 2015 at 11:54 am

      They dont even have a proper PM……how can they be better than us??? Tell me, tell me now!!!!

      They are very religious people, but every girl n guy that we know wants to be a prostitute……

      So if u say they are better than us, go migrate there, i will book u for my 45mins massage……

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0
  • Come here no use, might as well setup factory in Nepal or Bangla.
    Malaysians now dun wan work in factory anymore. All wanna be kroni, all wanna be tauke, all wanna work in air-con environment, all wanna be hi-keras everyday drink starbucks.

    At least it will spare us the recriminations from so-called rakyats that we are losing the assembly to other countries. If looking at our local human capital, we never stood a chance.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 11 Thumb down 7
  • Please come to Malaysia! We want a 150k-priced Evoque.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 1
    • You can get yourself a 0 ncap star Landwind. Much much much more cheaper than the original.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 1
  • nabill (Member) on Jul 27, 2015 at 1:08 pm

    They already have a not so great reputation when it comes to reliability,.i dread to think how much worse it can get if its ckd-ed over here….
    Since its owned by the Tata Group,doesnt it make sence to assemble in india?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 1
  • Leonardo on Jul 27, 2015 at 3:53 pm

    I think JLR would make more money by openiing a spare parts center for JLR than a CKD operation here. There are many old and aging Land Rovers in this region looking for original spare parts. Just go to Cameron Highlands or Thailand as proof. Also nearby Indonesia and Australia is another big market.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 0
  • No point of dreaming as long as the cronies around..

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 2
  • superbird #43 on Jul 27, 2015 at 9:48 pm

    assemble them in england

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0
  • endroo G on Jul 28, 2015 at 8:59 am

    JLR should consider targeting all segments of the market.

    In my opinion, if they use reintroduce CKD Land Rover Defender and Discovery to the RM70k – RM 150k,I’m sure they’ll have the sales that they want.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
 

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