Nissan became the first company to launch its eco-car in Thailand with its new March at the recent Bangkok Motor Show. Other Japanese carmakers like Toyota and Honda are expected to follow suit; the latter showed off its New Small Concept at the Thai show. Meanwhile, Volkswagen and Suzuki are likely to help each other develop an eco-car in Thailand, according to an industry source.
Bangkok Post reports that a senior official at Thailand’s Board of Investment (BoI) confirmed the German and Japanese automakers were negotiating about collaborative possibilities. Small car expert Suzuki is already a certainty, after reaffirming its stand to go ahead with a 7.5-billion-baht eco-car venture in Thailand last year. VW meanwhile, was among seven automakers applying for promotional privileges from the BoI. The state agency approved the proposals of six companies (Nissan, Toyota, Honda, Mitsubishi, Suzuki, Tata), but asked for additional details from Europe’s biggest carmaker.
The industry source said that Volkswagen had now embarked on a new push and was negotiating with Suzuki about jointly developing the small, fuel-efficient cars in Thailand. It was previously reported that VW planned to invest 27 billion baht for the eco-car project, a sum much higher than the others. This was because VW has no presence in Thailand and needed to start its venture from scratch, including parts sourcing. Suzuki could be the answer to these obstacles.
Suzuki, now 19.9% owned by VW, is commited to build facilities for pressing, welding, painting, assembly and engine production. Its plan is to start producing 1.3-litre eco-cars in 2012, initially at 10,000 units per year. Suzuki majors in small cars and is an established player in India and ASEAN, and these were among the star points Volkswagen saw when it bought into the Hamamatsu based company. Well, it looks like Wolfsburg is getting its first “dividend” with this Thai eco-car scenario.
Malaysian carbuyers could stand to enjoy some spill over effects of these developments in Thailand. To qualify for eco-car duty cuts and tax breaks, 70% of production must be for local consumption, which means eco-car participants can export the rest of these small, fuel sipping cars – and as the region’s biggest passenger car market, I can bet we figure in their plans.
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Nice eco car.. hope it will release to Malaysia too…
Very good. I look forward to it. Hopefully it will bring in more choices for us rather than just Potong or P2.
tak faham aku,,tempat org suka merusuh camtu,,,nak gak invest?
aku rasa diorg bukak center sbb nak gi patpong aa
sebab diaorang tak da industri tempatan. berbeza dengan kita, perlu lindung indsutri tempatan. sbb tu diaorang minat melabur di Thai walaupun krg aman. Malaysia krg dari segi aspek perlndungan melampau jer. kalau nak bukak kilang lagi di Malaysia, ada syarat kandungan tempatan lebih 50% kalau nak dpt taraf nasional, so dengan kroni2 yg kuasai vendor, sudah tentu harga akan jd mahal. tak berbaloi
What a pity if only Malaysia had gone down this route. 7 car makers scrambling to open up assembly and probably research facilities there. We are left in the lurch and only get campro.
with all the political uncertailnty and daily mass demostration in thailand , big companies still want to invest and build factories there , over here , we have a fully functional(open to debate!) government bt companies still shy away from here , that really says alot…..
Why big companies like the are shying away from Malaysia.
As i have investigate the reasons..
1. We have to secure Proton future so we have to kill others car maker
2. Perodua its also a big problem for proton already what happen it there is more.
3. I think Thai goverment are stupid to give all the plus for the car makers maybe tax free and or no restrictions at all.
4. we ARE SO lucky to have proton and kancil so people stop thinking big cars just buy proton and kancil
cause we want bigger n bigger salary..our per capita higher than thai… mean that their pay as not high as us here
+ gov incentive
+ cheap raw material
+ cheap labor
+ tech
we don have cheap labor anymore except in some industries…i think proton should invest in thai cause cheaper there as compare to here…
Agree, Malaysia will be the loser, and the Proton EMAS are still years away to production, and that is a big ‘IF’ it actually get into production.
big IF to all concept car…some consider as far as 2015..rite kawan
what la… always bising about this issue. we have Honda, Suzuki and Mercedes doing CKD here what… we even have S-Class assembled in Kuantan.
soon, Proton could also do CKD for VW and Mitsu here.
don’t simply criticize and blame without checking.
More or less got connection one la. Just whether you want to believe it or not.
If not of overtaxed CBU unit, you think CKD unit will be so expensive meh?
don’t u know that thai banned CBU import since 1980s?
don’t u know GM, Chrysler and Ford were forced to get out from Japan in 1930s?
I believe Proton could have been more successful like Hyundai if Malaysia followed Japanese, Korean and Thai policies which disallow CBU car import during their initial automotive industry development.
“could have”, it’s a bit too late now isn’t it. Most ppl already lost faith after all these long years. Even in these few years, they did something better, (Exora) but ppl just din buy it (U compare on the road la, I see more avanza than these). Why?
As much as I wished proton to succeed but it’s hard nowadays, u and i both know. Without a good tie up, proton will never get back to the position when they’ve just launched the Saga and Wiras. I hope they are smart enough this time to find good partners and not think about their “own” pride. You get me? Sigh…. And I do not wish them to go down to the road of banning CBUs and such, it’s a bit too late and not fair to those who have gone through for 25 years.
I’m not saying that we should ban CBU import now, but I’m just voicing my opinion that Malaysia has taken a ‘softer’ approach compared to Japan, Korea and Thai. Cheapest T&H (Vios & City) sedan in Thai is more than RM50k, but here we get Saga and Persona within RM30-50k, means that Proton has fulfilled their principle to help lower income group to own a car.
Why people always condemning gov for helping and protecting Proton when even the biggest car manufacturer in the world still receiving help from their gov in Japan & USA? Price of hybrid and EV cars are low in Japan and UK because their gov is giving 20% subsidy in Japan and £5000 in UK. Even Jaguar receives millions of dollar to develop hybrid… I don’t feel that Malaysia should give subsidy for hybrid and EV just yet, because only the middle and rich people could afford them anyway.
why Malaysians like to condemn so much instead of helping each other?
Is not that we don’t want to help them, it’s them that don’t want to help themselves. I had the first batch of wira, to be honest, I was pretty proud of it. But from that point onwards, proton seems to have trouble advancing forward like the others. Look at now, what kind of plans have they chose. I don’t really want to go in further cause I have only heard of rumors. The most disappointing moments for me was that VW wants no more to do with Proton, it would have been great if VW came in. Yea, although we will lose major control stake, but they could have just put in a statement that Proton will remain Malaysian regardless of who is controlling. We gain much more than losing but dunno who’s the fella that called the shot. The tie up with mitsubishi didn’t really impressed me. I can only say proton will need to do much more to regain trust from me, or those who have already lost faith. For me it’s quite simple, go chassis sharing with someone big (I don’t mind if it’s Hyundai or whoever, you can have different car on same chassis, I think MoFaz, u are qualified to understand from the engineering point.), dump that Campro and go source/share engine with bigger global company. There’s a lot to win, especially faith.
But all what I’ve wrote are just empty shells. There are too much pride at sake and I don’t believe that they will do it in these 5 years term. Even if you tell them what to improve, the management that calls the shot most likely will not even listen to it. So you tell, how can I help them? (Please dun tell me to buy Proton. Hell, no.. I rather have bicycle and take public transport. Better for environment, better for me.)
walaupun CKD, diaorang tetap masih perlu dpt kelulusan MITI untuk letakkan harga dan nak bukak kilang CKD pun ada syarat2 tertentu yang akan sebabkan kos bikin kereta tu meningkat berbanding import CBU
if thai sell 30k oso…not much people will buy majority thai cannot afford to buy car only rich people buy…that y u see more bike n bicycle..
Its no use to open car factories here, as usual some typical malaysian would say the local car quality would be below par. They think cars made in japan are better.
On the contrary, when they heard our neighbour is receiving the plan as in this article, they feel loss about it. and that typical person is like u “kaki kereta”.
Hey..no personal attacks okay. You are a typical Malaysian. I was so proud of Proton when I went overseas to further my studies. Then my eyes were opened. I wish Proton was run by proper business men and no government appointed persons. If Thailand can get it why not us. I believe Proton should improve. Come on look at Kia and Hyundai. People in Korea only buy their cars because they are good quality. This is the mentality I don’t understand. If we criticise and hope that the powers that be will realise and swallow their pride and improve the companies they run then it should better for all of us. Not by giving false hope such as Neo F1 that costs a bomb. Come on.
Suzuki-badged VW Polos please. With 1.2 liter turbos and dual clutch transmissions. Now.
Thanks to UMNO by making us pay more for crappy car and make their cronies richer by selling APs. Also the Government for making bad Economic Plan that leaves manufacturers to set up their plants in our neighbouring coiuntries despite of us having the largest car market in south east asia. So all of us know what to do on the income general election. Thank you UMNO for the mess you have created.
Ha3. hulu selangor dan sibu jadi buruan. wait and see
cute…but cant get it here ==
And yet P1 thinks it can do better by doing it themselves.
– Just don’t be” bodoh sombong.!! “
29 billion baht !! / $RM2.9 B and here in Msia they have the manufacturing plant
& infrastructure ready but due to EGO, we are not willing to open the market.
Way to MITI !!
cheaper to built there than here
we dont need those darn company to set up here, here we got almighty proton with good handling and provide local jobs!!!!
lets buy second hand car!!!
typical proton thinking !!
if they come here …who do they enploy ? Robots?
we are always conned by these nay sayers saying that
we will lose jobs …. think again of the lost opportunities !
proton oso use robot ma…
aiyoo. wake up. masih tak mahu Proton bersaing lagi ke. Bilalah sampai impian nak lihat Proton jadi jenama Global kalau nak bersaing di negara sendiri pun kecut. Means bersaing secara sihat
wat does proton do with investment…..only the price of car is high it does not effect manufacturing cost…to minimise cost they hav to find cheaper place + gov incentive…
if they set up plant here, built than just export the god damn car don sell here…
they untung we oso untung…but they don open y coz of manufacturing cost la
boring..boring…u just buy the brand…………..
Sad that Malaysia doesnt follow this footstep of Thailand…..
Thailand has improved alot and they have got the better technology than in our market….
Look at Perodua, its still using old Daihatsu engine, Proton? Campro……kinda old n going to b outdated soon…..
As for QC, both have failed terribly compared to Thailand and even Indonesia market………
Even VW also choose Thai as their preferred destination……
Malaysia seriously need to review all about this…………………………
We are not getting anywhere….
xpayah review la, 10 tahun atau ke akhir hayat korang malaysia kena pakai kreta Proton & Perodua je… x mampu bli jenama lain… grenti.
if they do here..they hav to pay more higher gaji/ salary to u all…..we here wan more high gaji even wan rm1000 as basic pay..thai in other hand hav quit low salary than us..almost in all industries….thats y there choose thai even viet over us…the CKD that we hav now just to low market price for their product in malaysia not to reduce the cost of manufacturing abiltilies…im not the expert but logical..if im the car maker i do the same thing..eg y i need to invest here since there r cheaper place to do regardless incentive they give… other scenarios..eg if labor n raw material here is cheap n car price is out of this world i still open my plant here cause labor cheap n raw mat also cheap plus incentive, the car built for export only la
Imagine if that RM2.7 billion investment came this way instead.
With TH so far ahead as the green car hub (just like SG is the halal and water research hub) of the region, will our new new NAP have any effect on advancing our auto industry?
No chance.. Fat cat sure wan a big piece of pie, and we will hav to pay for it.
The world is advancing fast. Even the head of NEAC admitted that we need to move fast. Unfortunately, some people don’t want to move with the world. But they don’t realize that while they and their children will enjoy the spoils, their grandchildren and great grandchildren will suffer and curse them for it.
powered by mee siam
what a great move…eventhough thailands politics are very scary,,still investors invests their bulks over there to build assembly plants..we malaysia,,where we are heading ministers????
our people salary oriented
mana kita punya EMAS??
Peti sejuk lah….. cakap besar saja
…..P1 used car show as a front for its Directors and Advisor to go
on a all paid holiday in Geneva.!!
they had said around 2011 they will mass produce..don read articles or u just read title of article
EMAS kita di Geneva lagi.
pencapaian di utamakan, rakyat didahulukan …. YEAAYYYYY lol
If we talk about assembly plants, Thai have advantages. Population is 2.5 times more than Malaysia, means there’s more labour. Malaysia is no longer “cheap” in labour / workforce. do you think a lot of people here want to work for less than RM700 per month? Dell, Intel and Motorola are among big companies that have scaled down their productions here due to rising costs. So, what’s the solutions? Factories will use more robots, or get cheaper labour from Indonesia and Bangladesh. we now have more than 1 million foreigners here, do you want more? Countries with bigger population and lower per-capita income always win in this factor.
Those big manufacturers employ more robots than human. Industry and manufacturing contributed 44% of gross domestic product (GDP) for Thailand but employed only 14% of the workforce. It doesn’t help much to improve quality of life in the whole country, and more than 10% are still below poverty line. in other words: you may see the exports and GDP increasing but who’s getting richer? only those foreign companies and gov (from export tax).