The nickname ‘Detroit of the East’ isn’t that apt after all, since Thailand isn’t just the regional hub for American brands GM and Ford, but host to most of the big Japanese automakers as well. Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Mitsubishi and Mazda all produce and export vehicles from our northern neighbour.
How big actually is the auto industry in Thailand? Last year, auto exports contributed about 13% to the kingdom’s total exports of 6.18 trillion baht, which means it’s the second biggest sector after electronics and computer parts, according to data from the Commerce Ministry. The auto industry accounts for 12% of Thailand’s GDP, said the World Bank.
The ongoing political situation that occasionally flares up, as it did in the first half of 2010, doesn’t seem to affect the sector either. Car output was unaffected; although 20% less than 2009, auto makers still poured in about 32.5 billion baht ($1.1 billion) to Thailand in 2010. Some are expecting a rebound. “The flow of FDI this year is expected to be as high as 400 billion baht ($13 billion), with automotive and parts being a key sector, led by number one investor Japan,” said BOI Secretary-General Atchaka Sibunruang.
The country’s Eco Car program is a success. Mitsubishi is spending 16 billion baht ($535 million) to build its new Global Small Concept that’s due to roll out in 2012 (from a third factory in Laem Chabang, Chonburi), Honda’s Brio is launching this month, while Nissan’s Thai made March is selling very well. Outside of the Eco Car, Ford is building a new plant for its new Focus and GM has a diesel engine plant that will bear fruit soon.
Low wages, strong infrastructure and a good habitat are Thailand’s strong points. According to the International Labour Organisation’s 2009 report, average wages for manufacturing workers in Thailand is $245.50 per month, compared to China’s $412.50 and Malaysia’s $666. It’s not just about exports, as Thailand is also the biggest market in ASEAN – 800,357 vehicles were sold there in 2010, compared with Indonesia’s 764,088 and Malaysia’s 605,156.
“You have a good supplier network. You really have a lot of experienced suppliers across the board so there’s a potential to really localise a lot. The fabric is there. You can’t just drop an assembly plant into nowhere and think that cars would just magically pop up. There has got to be the right environment that brings high-quality cars,” commented Martin Apfel, GM’s ASEAN boss.
If there’s a regional threat to Thailand’s auto crown, it’s Indonesia. Average wage wise, it’s just $129 per month according to ILO, which is almost half that of Thailand’s. And unlike Malaysia’s relatively saturated market, there’s plenty of room to grow in that highly populous nation – TIV is estimated to be 800,000 this year. Growing affluence also means that Indonesia could soon overtake Malaysia as the region’s biggest consumer of passenger cars – 541,475 units were sold there in 2010, only just behind Malaysia’s 543,594.
Some analysts say Indonesia could overtake Thailand as a regional manufacturing hub by 2014 because of strong economic growth, growing national wealth and a more stable currency. We’ve already seen companies like Nissan commit money to double production in Indonesia, and Audi setting up local assembly for the A4 and A6. More recently, Daihatsu announced a 20 billion yen investment to build a new plant in Indonesia for a compact low cost car.
Will Indonesia’s auto industry gather enough steam to challenge Thailand’s status as the Detroit of Asia? Since Malaysia is out of the competition, we’ll just enjoy the match from our centre seat!
Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.
Thank you Tun Mahathir for being the Father of Thailand’s Automotive Industry.
Sawadeekap!
thank to our sex industry too….
“Asean region biggest car hub”-Thailand…..This title should belong to MALAYSIA at first but thanks to THE MAMAK, thailand got it now !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
They got to enjoy toyota as their cheap daily ride, while we having great time with VIVX, SAGX, MYVX which is same price as vios in thailand
MALAYSIA BOLEH, i am proud with P1 and P2 rather than GM, Ford, Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Mitsubishi and Mazda in thailand. +_+ (SARCASM)
Slow and steady win the race…..why so rush rush one????
What race? What slowly-slowly win?
We already LOSE the race 25 years ago, that’s why!
Now the top contenders are; Thailand and Indonesia, Malaysia is even lucky if can sapu Consolation price (hadiah sagu hati dari rakyat Malaysia selama 25 tahun).
Hahaha.
I also very proud of Dr. Mamak and his P1 and P2. We may not be Asean’s biggest car hub but we are the whole world’s most expensive country to buy cheap cars built specially for our rakyat. Which other country can claim such a credit?! So what if we have to open our door to pay toll sometime (if not all the time)? At least we have proven to the world we have the technology to manufacture power windows and provide jobs to youths who would otherwise be mat rempits to terrorize you on the roads.
Also if Dr. Mamak didn’t start P1 and P2 and sell cheap cars to us, where got reason to give so many concessions to build so many toll roads and interchanges? Imagine the massive jams you would be facing sitting in your Saga, Persona or bastardised Lancer. So be grateful to the doctor. So what if he’s called Father of Thai Automotive Industry? This is in line with his South South policy mah to enrich your neighbour. Don’t forget in the process we also enrich many of our own people what. Go count how many public companies making spareparts and running toll roads that are now listed on the stock exchange.
And now you get some more MRT! If not for Dr. Mamak’s cheap cars flooding our roads, you think there would be MRT project meh? So we must be far-sighted like him and not grudge when he make Thailand’s car industry prosper. Start counting the benefits when the RM50 bil is being spent – apa nama, yeah more rip-offs, er, I mean spin-offs for the rakyat and the economy.
Long live the Thai auto industry, er, I mean Dr. M. Thank you so much for P1 and P2 even if I have yet to purchase a Proton or Perodua all my life.
in kuala lumpur i spend more time and money time in car
but in in bangkok i spend more time and money more in sex……
ermm that weird… oh i forgot…they salary $245.50, ours is $666,
so our salary give more value on bangkok vacation….i hope they not increase siling price of those ‘ayam’ in future…..anyway thanks to our mamak for this strategy….. i am fine with this approach,,, NAP give more value to my money….
Too old to be adviser for Proton, lost! loost ! and Looost! 28million RAKYAT cannot bare any more for that la………:(
previously ppl call us asia tiger.. now we become asia pussy cat..
the statement is damn right.. “Malaysia is out of the competition”..
no doubt that we had improve step by step, but pls do consider that others is improving miles by miles.. we are far far away already..
only 9 more years to go to achieve wawasan 2020..
Dr.M, pls stay tune!!!
Don’t really think he will be there to see it, nor care what happens. this is all made happened by us malaysian since the government is elected by the people and in then they mess all of us about. by the time Proton makes a decent motor, others will be making spaceship. the pace of proton moving forward is simply too slow, mismanaged, no real end product till this date. Hyundai started roughly. same time as proton. look at how advance their car is. They don’t need to rely on stupid tax system to protect themself from global compatition as in certain market they were actually top sellers during the recent credit crunch. they made their name through sweat and blood, that’s the mentallity we should learn, if you never put in the effort, how could you expect to reap any rewards?? problems will never go away if you put your head under the sand, and proton will have to stop thinking : that’ll do, that’ll do. Consumers are simpleton, they will buy a product if the price to value equation is sound, give us genuinely great car, and we will embrace you by buying national cars. Just Don’t expect this to happen anytime soon though :-)
It’s understood regarding his next generation wealth, it’s just that they are not able to to be listed as the riches man officially….
Yes, Thailand should hold a big celebration and thanks our Tun M for giving them the chance to be number 1…
BTW, THailand got Tun ah? Their King should give our Tun a Thailand Tun and free flow of “Tiger” if he still can…hhhehe
complain.. complain..
“average wages for manufacturing workers in Thailand is $245.50 per month, compared to China’s $412.50 and Malaysia’s $666″…
malaysian nak gaji mahal.. nak kereta murah.. lu ingat mak lu punyer kilang ke?
Is it wrong to have higher salary and cheaper car? I don’t get it.
Why u don’t get it??? Higher salary mean higher cost for everything… Car production in malaysia need more cost, so they need to sell it in high price, gov also need to pay more money to gov worker, so need high tax…. Car dealer need to pay high salary so they sell with high price.. even children can get it…
Clearly you haven’t been to countries like Australia and many more. High wages, cheap cars.
YES, this is kilang mak kita (malaysian), not tun mamak’s playground.
australian GM used alott of automation machines while we still used a man powered machine…the high wages demand forced them to go for robot rather than human….
Dear Mr. Bongek & YamSeng,
Does your “economy model” includes the “cost of living” for the average (poor and medium) Malaysians?
Why US Economy looks big? Because they have “average in” 99% low-medium income Americans with filthy rich 1% Elite Americans, making it as if it looks big. Not to mention, the stock transactions are included in their GDP (annual gross) as well, making as if US Economy is “even bigger”. USA is a Country which consumes 25% of world Oil to satisfy the lust of 400 Million Americans (population comparison with China = 1.3 Bill, India = 1.1 Bill, South East Asia = 500 Mill).
Owh yeah, Malaysia is doing a similar thingy as well (just like US). The claim saying Malaysian “daily” average wages is RM666/month (bigger than Thai and Indon) are half-explained facts. Try to include the income of 99% small and medium salary Malaysian workers with that Elite 1% Cronies looks like mathematically correct, but as Statistic data, the Error Gradient (difference) is so great who are on their right mind would say the Malaysian workers are well paid?
For example, I’ll use Daily Salary as opposed to your Monthly Salary:-
Try to solve this simple mathemathical problems:-
A) Gaji Ali = RM30/day
B) Gaji Muthusamy = RM45/day
C) Gaji Ah Cheng = RM60/day
dan gaji Big Boss Cronies MalaysiaBoleh, “Ubah Gaya Hidup”, 1Malaysia RM=2400/day…
(30+45+60+2400) / 4 = RM634/day (imagine this is the average Malaysian daily salary!)
This is obviously misleading!
Satu lagi Tuan Bongek dan Encik YamSeng? Bolehkah hidup dgn gaji RM666 sebulan kat Malaysia nih? Korang ni dah bekerja ker belum? Korang ni orang Kaya kot?
pppfffttttt
takan M boleh mati dalam dunia ni?
tomyam and nasik paprik yang bodoh!!!!!!!!!!!
we have proton!!!!!!!!!!!!! we have thunder cat!!!!!
only those handicapped need to help jap build car and help them make money!!!!!!!!
proton? badly bulid car, as i own a wira and saga blm, saga handling even bad then a wira, which is 20 years jap car..may i re-phase ur word, only handicapped will bulid expansive lousy quality car and does not make money..
that deitroit people can have car at cheaper price , contribute more to japs and have sex in the car….that was a great package…
compare to malaysian, expensive car, contribution to malaysian, and no sex in the car…
prrrfffttthhh…. hahaha
Indon strong growth meh? maybe by 2015 no more illegal indon in malaysia as it will be easier to find job in indon… more malaysian will go to… lombok…
So, Thailand and Indon is catching up, soon Malaysia will be LOSER thanks to our beloved P1 which still need to be spoon feed by gov after 28 years……………
than you so much to the MAMAK who spoil our local automobile years ago, indonesian now laughing at us……For the same price, they are using VTEC, VVTI, we are using CAMPRO that consume fuel like drinking water, worst pick up power…..
Then increase the fuel price without any reason.
Thank you gov!!!
without any reason? u must be just out from dark cave..
Thailand Growth, Indonesia Growth, How about Malaysia? thanks to the Malaysia Governent and so call stupid idiot system “AP”. create less job to the whole car industry.
what did AP to do with Malaysia growth? not many of us using grey import that use AP(don compare to with commercial/mass AP use by toyota, honda, etc to import car in mass) anyway….
I do believe u should check what NAP have done much damage to our country in term of automotive sector from the past until now…
The system is mean to take care of special rich minority and punish those poor majority.
Fundamentally this is because of low wages of workers of Thai n Indon. They’re even lower than the China workers’. And the abundance of that low wage workers. Thai has a population of 69million and Indon has over 230million while we a mere 27million.
This is a trend everywhere where we move towards developed nation status, Thai n Indon are still emerging economies.
Malaysia is slowly moving out of the manufacting intensive economy to more of a service oriented economy so all can achieve higher income… and afford those imported cars anyway. Malaysia still looks for FDIs even into manufacturing but more towards automation and tech intensive rather than labour intensive manufacturing.
If we were to have more car manufacturers here? Who are gonna work for those manufacturer? You? You won’t tahan the wages they’re gving and soon they will close up shop.
Our auto industry (at least P1) design, produce and export and even set-up shop elsewhere to produce cheaper. So far… we’re on the right track. But still more to do.
oh my, you sound scarily just like my lecturer!!
Which I agree, we’re moving towards service oriented economy. But whether we’ll successfully move into that is hard to say with the corruption, racial tension, brain drain issue being its main barrier.
Malaysia should open the door years ago when we had the chance, before the thais and the indons do
What sort of service economy my friend? India, followed by China and Philipines are considered the leaders in technology intensive service industry in Asia. If you are talking about the MMSC, well thats a flop.
When I was talking to a very senior person in a FMCG company in the US, about opening an offshore IT subsidiary, I suggested KL but the boss had different ideas and the company was setup in Trivandrum India.
When asked why not KL the boss told me the biggest reason against MMSC, even though it had better facilities, the major factor playing against it was lack of skilled manpower to run the show. This means getting expats which increases cost.
End of conversation.
Unfortunately some of us can’t even speak/write in good English.
It’s kinda understood the level of knowledges/skills that we have (technicals, services, etc).
We are exporting the limited good ones out of the country.
We are importing millions of cheap labors into the country.
The G should not be afraid of the good ones.
The good ones are capable to develop the country.
I have 2 Indon Chinese friends who are 1st class student, having so much difficulties to work in M’sia and getting a PR. At the end, both of them are in S’pore now.
lack of skills??.. ur friend must be lack of info even from u..did u know how many graduate in IT industries we had.. either from domestic or abroad IPTs..the quality if u ask me?? hmm i assume we’re both graduate as well right.. ok je..
well, ur indon friend may had the skill, but Malaysian might had it already. why must we import..
China and Philippines ??? what sort of service economy they provided which make up large slice of their GDI?? im confuse, emerging economic countries yup i agree.. i went to both countries, china, yes their mega cities were magnificent although the toilet still barbarian.. whist the rural area..my god, almost felt like small town like Kuala Krai, Kuala Berang @ Kemaman New york compare to em.. and China and Philipines , apart from their cute ladies..hehe, in term of service, political, economy, public trasport, automotive @ technology, none of em surpass our country..
hmm..hujan emas di negeri orang..
I’m actually comparing with US/UK/S’pore, we are seeing things differently…
yes, i agree to disagree with you. we did see it differently, in order to work in this beloved country. one need not a PR..Visa should be good. Why did your friends need to be one of us in the first place? Political move?? cost of living?? wages?? hate their country?? there are thousands of foreigner skilled labour in Malaysia and most of em’ did not have PR, still both parties achieve their goals..Yes they the good one, the skill one if u may.. but are we lack of skill in that particular, your expertise (i assume medic right??), gov could easily hire foreign expert to train our locals in domestic IPTs thus minimize risking Malaysian to openly influences by god knows what they might brought here. Not that i knew them well, but the risk is there.
comparing to the US/UK/S’pore, dude those countries had more rules and regulation than us. if ur name contain words Muhammad, Al-, Ahmed, ..Bin.. @ u keep a beard. then u’ll be suprise, nevermind the PR @ green card. enjoy ur airport hospitality 1st hehe ..
still, comparing to develop nation. yes that’s the way it should. same principle applied here. i said it before, we’re past the line of low cost labor influence to attract FDI. we gotta enhanced our name, quality and branding to survive. our IPTs and Skill Institutes provide thousands graduate every years into the market in various fields of study. Both Indon & thai had the mileage that we used to today. we’re transform from classic agriculture to heavy industries oriented anh then toward em’ (US/UK/S’pore) path services & innovation economic oriented. Yes, those countries US, UK, German, Japan..they able to keep producing large number of heavy industries output not becoz of the same approach by Indon n Thai n us in the past, but through years of extensive research, marketing and branding. both our neighboring countries enjoy their current cash flow into em but i suspect it wont be long coz all those auto brands had a strict quality control and judging from them others product, im sure the player opt to build it themselves whilst only the raw materials & labor from the locals.
well, china & india also offers cheaper labor. but they are much smarter than these both south east countries, only companies with China’s own JV can enter their market, both cash flow and knowledge rain down on their soil.. soon dont be surprise if cherry @ tata @ whatever them auto player became as big as Jap industries. it might seem a drawback to investor but these both countries is too big to ignore. i have a faith in these two, but the other two that matter here..hmm unless they table something like 20 years auto plan to public, i can’t see them much change in the future.
If our standards surpass these countries, then why are we not ahead of them?
win some, loose some….we cannot win all…….
same goes to Spore….they dont bother to manufacture cars but they are the largest transhipment port for cars….
identify your niche, capitaliseeee…….
instead of whining, why dont we apply our own AP…..if we dont get, we buy, if we cant buy, we bribe……
The boat left us and transformed into a speedboat :( Sad..
if compare to population, Msian still the richest
just 27 million people can afford to buy 600k of cars/yr
thai 70million = 800k cars/yr
indon 230 million = 700 cars/yr
thats because the G force the bank to allow 9 years loan so that the citizens able to pay the tax,otherwise..we all end up riding a bike
do not so much my dear friends,
Malaysia still numero uno of the highest car price in this region
where did u get ur info….it suppose to be singapore overall(please don use coz their salary higher if u do that than compare car price in thai n malaysia using same alasan tat is salary). and if u compare car price with thai mostly car that produce in thai r cheaper than malaysia(just u compare with pug that naza export to thai), indon if u search carefully their car price is cheaper than malaysia but mostly lux car and MPV
Are you able to see / foresee that M’sia is at the loosing end? Not just globally but in ASIA now… not just ASIA but neighboring country… and it’s clearly happening now… 2011…
Soon we Malaysians will be at their countries doing house break-ins, snatch thieves etc. Buahahahaa!
Despite being a huge fan of PROTON, I think we must all face the music: competition is harsh, quick and unforgiving. The billions of dollars invested just accross the border shows how much we’ve lost of an appeal.
Malaysia, despite my love to it, is quickly being eclipsed by the giant neighbors in terms of automotive but everything else as well!
I am giving PROTON a few more years. After which, my support will go to somewhere else. I love the company, but if you give me a choice between billions of dollars of investments into Malaysia or supporting a loss-making PROTON, choice is quickly made.
C’mon PROTON, WAKE UP!!!!!
a few more years??? come on slekuzen… wake up!!!!!!
its possible when Malaysia government turn into a communist country like North Korea, drive Proton or else you get headshoot
Malaysia does have Peugeot and may be also Chevrolet. Anyway, high automobile sales is not such a good thing. We need high-speed intercity rails and dense urban rail lines instead.
LOL! Yea, like Malaysia’s doing it anyways?
We have 5 different train line in KL! 5!! And all of them have different gauges and don’t interchange! FART FART!
So Malaysia’s behind in terms of infrastructure (that’s always been the fact, look at Bangkok’s much, much better LRT system), and now cars.
Alas, the country who always wanted to be the “hub” of everything is not within the equation.
Thais & Indons can’t even afford 1 national car.
We have 2 National Cars + 3 Localised Brand. ;-)
With our transformasi plan we will soon double our income. :-)
We couldn’t be bother with those so call Detroits of South East Asia Title.
Yes that is true,they only earn money through investment of maybe tax to the manufacturer,but all the profits will go to the Japs and the Yanks not to the Thais or to the Indons.
Growth of auto industry in Malaysia = jobs in Mal; gov tax on profit; support industries.
Growth of auto industry in Thai = jobs in Thai; gov tax on profit; support industries.
Both cases, the Owners of the factories (no matter where they are); profit, if their business prosper.
“Malaysia Memang Boleh” you need to pass SPM economics; if you want to reply intelligently.
yeah malaysia memang boleh, always waited your 1 malaysia comment
Still P1+Lotus still posted losses not long ago… Yeah more money to double up the ‘investment’?
YOU couldn’t be bothered. But for us sensible and rational people, we are actually very worried…
While Indon & Thai produce 500 unit vehicle and export 300 of it, we Malaysia at the same time only built 200 unit and only export 5 unit.
Since Malaysia is out of the competition, we’ll just enjoy the match from our centre seat!
<– Honestly this is a very scary statement and it's not funny…
Please bear in mind that it's not just for the auto industries but the rest of the business as well…
Well guys , see from the bright side , if proton is really going to deliver what he promise to deliver , like turbo engine , new persona , new CUV , who knows ,we could be building our assembly plant in indonesia and start making money from the huge population in indonesia ….
Ameen!!
Har? you take turbo as Proton technology ah? Do you know turbo is exist in market for atleast 20 years lior….
In automotive, we are still technology user, not creator…our volume will never be competitive, never!!!
“we” start making money from huge population in indonesia.
we = the connected rich umnoputras; not the rakyat.
auto industry growth in Malaysia = jobs for rakyat Malaysia.
auto industry growth in Thai/Indo= jobs for rakyat Thai/Mal
Supporter : Come and gather all the kampung folks, see our jaguh kampung….greatest in malaysia. Please clap and feel proud for our jaguh kampung!
jobless rakyat : WTF? “Pride” can eat with rice and kicap? I need jobs.
auto industry growth in Malaysia = jobs for rakyat Malaysia.
So basicly you are willing to work for RM 900 per month? Sigh wages for the Janitor in my office is more than that.
For the jobless Rakyat, pls teach them how to use jobstreet. There is a lot of vacancies is the service industry currently.
jobless?
then, why the hell so many Vietnamese, Indos, Banglas here in malaysia?
in fact, they are able to open a stall at the market instead…
“start making
money from the huge
population in indonesia ”
Then stop selling sedan on Indonesia and start develop cheap mpv, since Indonesia is mpvland. Thats works with Nissan
this is what the Malaysian govt has sorely missed. While we provide the market (at least quality i.e margin for luxury cars) we loose out at the manufacturing side. If not our automotive engineers and ah bengs who like to tinker with cars would get some economic spill over effects
Give suggestion guys..we need think tanks..hope the Gov can take ideas from this blog as they have brain drain issues
Why are you all so worried? Proton will help us through all these. No matter what we still have Proton, something which any other ASEAN country don’t have. Doesn’t matter whether they make money or not, it’s something that we have and can be proud of. Don’t listen to all these things, we have Proton the pride of the rakyat
I’m not sure whether I should laugh or cry on your comment
Just like how we have the emptiest twin tower, the emptiest port, the busy-less airport and etc.
What is the to be proud off?
Har? Not need to worry because we have P1 ah? It should be, P1 not need to worry cause got Rakyat….
After all, all the money they loss, will be pay up by Petronas and our fuel subsidy will increase..
End up, we the Rakyat pay for the loss!!!
lol in case you didn’t know it was meant to be sacarstic
guys; dont worry. we still got proton plant, naza plant, perodua plant. still many jobs to offer to our fresh grads.
yaya.. still remember that proton did having open interview for fresh grads, those fresh engineer monthly salary is RM1.5k, which others manufacturing company offer RM2.5k.
dunno its due to our skin color or not, its too low..
However, this information is 6 years ago, dunno they increase or not.
then pls go update ur info.. 6 yrs is too long dude..
where got? 6 years ago (During mhaleel time) P1 only hire those who have CGPA 3.5 and above and prefers oversea grad and those who can speak good english or good technical grades, basic pay 2500 where UMWT /P2 pay 2000 (if youre technical grad you get 2200), Honda 1800, Naza 1500~1800, TC 1800. This is the time when petronas basic pay is 2500 to 2800, Shell give 2800 to 3000. Now Petronas basic pay is 4K, Shell 5K other car company pay 2.3K ~ 2.8K. So who (read: the brains) want to work in automotive sector? Accenture/BCG/Delloitte have very good pay, not mentioning the banks (Citibank, HSBC, CIMB, Maybank), the telcos (Maxis starting salary is 3500, Axiata, Digi). The electronics/semicon also pay good money as well (Infeneon melaka pay 3K min).
the new ford plant has a tennis court build in!
Thats not tennis court..Thats Football field
talk only terror, but the truth is that Proton is still waayyy behind and protective policies have only hurt the nation..no need to talk about nationalism or kita this kita that..the real world do not take prisoners..you want to make a car..do it right or close shop thats it!!
What is Football field at Ford has thing to do with nationalism?? kompiuss
what with all the fuss guys..
I rather bought MADE IN MALAYSIA product over than over again MADE IN SIAM, MADE IN INDON @ MADE IN CINA…
we want something, so we gotta let go off something.
Malaysia wanna be developed nation by 2020..so one of the factor is wages.. we should be proud that we had much more money than these neighboring countries. apart from auto price, im sure other stuff pretty much the same.. take the oil price for example, in fact we’re the cheapest in market..
the thing is, we’re past the line where quantity was the focus.. it’s time to focus on Quality, Name & Branding.. i mean, in 80s and 90s most of electronic appliances in the world was made in Malaysia.. we sold a lot, but they said “argghhh Made in Malaysia..” the same stigma we had “Made in China” product nowadays..New way of approach, we can see that clearly in Proton’s transformation, autosport and global ambition.. once the world knew our present..there aint no stopping then.
so.. just like Danny said, we’ll just enjoy the match from our centre seat! we had our time in 80s and 90s..it’s their turn now.. auto industry not the only slice we had in Malaysia.. this has nothing to do with Tun.. without him, who would knew what type of education, health, economy, social etc system we and our kids would have..
and just why the heck it so much matter to you gov protect it’s citizen and company?? even Korea and Japan had been practicing this ages before us… every country had different approach on its tax and cost of living.. RM300,000 can bought u a detached house in Terengganu @ single storey terrace in suburban KL.. can u do the same in London, New York ,Tokyo or even Bangkok???
Well, these day, horrible truth is IF YOU CAN’T AFFORD IT… THEN WORK HARDER, EARN IT!!! in the mean time u might wanna stick to your Viva and The Mighty VIOS can wait later hehehe.. whatever..
I think you are a bit delusional..
yup i’m delude by the current state of these both countries. both town and rural condition, rich and poor, social status etc. the gap was gigantic. Don’t know bout u, in Malaysia, i never saw it that way. i came from rural area, and whatever town rat had, we the country mice had it as well. maybe not as bling bling as them but we had it..
the unlucky one/beggars on the street in Malaysia mostly either junkies, nut case @ syndicate. U wont see here people raid on trash to find foods @ shelters @ whatever those people seek.
What do u expect.. we cut off our our current wages just to satisfy foreign investors???
i think you are shallow minded..
we could be soooo much better.. our GDP is same as South Korea, but in reality, our actual living standards is no where near them… what does this tell u? the huge disparity in income among of the rakyat.. actually, considering our abundance of natural resources, unlimited supply of cheap foreign labor and high percentage of workers with tertiary education… we should be much much better then South Korea.. let alone Thai or Indonesia.
So no, we shouldn’t be satisfied with what we have now, we deserve more, we should get more, we actually have a lot more
Firstly, I apologize if i got it wrong but my guess is.. since u said u were from the rural,… i guess u are Felda ppl, who then got gov, scholarship, then got into UiTM, studied for free, in a non-competitive uni, then easily got gov. job, since they need to fill in certain “quotas”, earning avg. income but can go back home at 4.30 everyday, back to your rent free gov. housing….
… of course everything looks like rainbows and unicorns from ur POV..
disclaimer: im not trying to be racist here, i myself is malay and only highlighting your skewed vision of the “reality” of Malaysia
For your information…Ron 97 in Bali last month i went there is Rm 1.50 per litre. The cheapest of all? You have been reading hogwash…
come on, dont kencing here. Ron 88 is IDR 4500.RON 97 is the most expensive and you can only get it at either Petronas or Shell. Pertamina mostly sold the subsidies RON 88
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasoline_and_diesel_usage_and_pricing
The ‘Detroit of the East’ should be Malaysia once upon a time, but due to some selfish politician, and rich cronies, we have let go this rice bowl to Thailand and Indonesia, still, until now, there is no regret, no guilt, no accountability, no shame
Who’s the selfish? well.. obviously the kurang ajar one.! darn it.
To be serious.. our politic is not well polished. if not.. why everything is moving to other country? Darn….I wonder i still can live in Malaysia in the coming year. i’m afraid…. for living in Malaysia.. after so much big economic project is flow to the other country.
It is truly sad that Malaysia isn’t in the running for this. But one has to admit, both Thailand’s and Indonesia’s strengths are the same: low labor costs. I don’t think we could ever undercut those two countries in terms of labor costs. Hopefully Proton picks up the pace and leads the ASEAN pack in terms of design and brand strength.
they want to close down chop chop shop in 2 years time
but they promise to abolish AP king 5 years ago and still nothing happen, why cuss our gomen make us look like donkey for 53 years and counting the donkey
Ramai gak yang nak sangat jadi pekerja kilang kereta kat sini ye. Apa kata korang apply keje kilang kat shah alam ke, bangi ke pastu rasala camne “banyaknya” gaji RM900 yang korang nak sangat tu.
Banyak sangat org mulut longkang bagi komen. Ntah apa yg hebat sgt dengan gelaran detroit of the east tu. Hope Thai tak jadi macam Detroit, MI in near future.
Bagi aku daripada dapat gelaran Detroit of the East lebih baik Malaysia cuba dapatkan gelaran Silicon Valley of the East ke, Swiss of the East ke. Lagi masyuk.
Mesti ada yg kondem pasal nak jadi silicon valley or swiss tu..
BTW.. Detroit is the poorest big city in America.
I think you should try to write in English.
i think you better learn reading in bahasa next time
it doesn’t matter..that guy portrayed the present reality..
We have too many M’sian who can’t write in good English… I hope fazzurri will give himself a chance to write in English one day…
Unforgiven ..if u are malaysian.. then it should not matter much.. English is our second language anyway… u should be able to read Bahasa,.
by the way..ur English sangat bagus ka?
Y? u cant understand bahasa meh?
“Ramai gak yang nak sangat jadi pekerja kilang kereta kat sini ye”
What kind of bahasa is this?
Should this not be “Ramai agak hendak sangat menjadi pekerja kilang kereta di sini kah?”
I guess we are good at broken English and also broken Bahasa Malaysia… Hahahaha!!! Malaysia Boleh!!!
broken but still in bahasa.. why need ask him to write in english? btw i see almost all ppl here write in broken english..r we in english/bahasa class session?
Still wrong! “Di ruangan forum ini ramai juga yang teriningin untuk menjadi pekerja kilang kereta”. Real malay/correct tatabahasa dont use ‘kah’ like that.
itu bahasa ke?
why? so that you can make fun of his abilities in writing in English??
sadly to say this.. But Malaysian’s like to see other fellow Malaysians fall/fail for instance in speaking/writing in English. What makes it worse is making fun of it. For God’s sake, do change your attitude. It’s like you’re making fun of people having disabilities. Instead of making fun of him/her, why don’t you encourage them to speak in English and not mocking them! And grow up!
Detroit is one of the poorest cities in the US but most of the auto execs live in the suburbs or nearby townships e.g. Bloomfield Hills which is one of the top 5 wealthiest US cities. Average income of the residents is about US$200k p.a.
Ini bukan saja pasal gaji pekerja kilang yang rendah. Ini pasal supply chain yang menyeluruh yang dapat memberi peluang pekerjaan serta peluang untuk perniagaan import. Kalau peluang pekerjaan lebih, kemungkinan besar peragut dan pejenayah pun berkurangan.
Peragut import made in indon sure akan bertambah punyaa
If you divide cars produced with population, Malaysia is still better. We also have the most number of cars per person, probably surpass US? Yes with regard to IT outsource, I think we are no 3 in the world?
Yes,with the most people population with 9 years debt ..just to pay car’s tax
most number of cars per person is nothing to proud of.. it mean the public transportation is really really suck…
ppl have to have their own car to to drive to work but not due to having extra money to buy luxury car..
If Public transportation very nice than who want to buy a car..
Public transport nice = car sales drop…We lose to thailand and indon
Public transport suck = car sales up..We win againt Thai and indon.
Which one u choose???
Malaysian economy does not depend on selling vehicles. It is quite diversified (a good thing). That is why Malaysian exports (goods and services) are higher than these two countries even if our population is smaller. Don’t put everything in one basket.
despite all these things, I still love Malaysia. the most harmonious and peaceful country!
call me a blind supporter, but I still support Proton no matter what.
FF, you sir is a blind supporter.
Bukak mata kejap.
“Pride” can eat with rice and kicap?
2012 will see either Thailand or Indonesia the biggest auto production hub of Asean as Toyota will move production of sedan outside Japan to reduce production cost and make the price comptitive with Korean and Chinese cars.
Currently, Thailand is global production base of Toyota 1 tonne pickup and regional base of sedan for Asean and Australia. With production capacity of 50,000 vehicles a month of Toyota Motor Thailand, it’s very likely that Toyota will move production of sedan from Japan to Thailand, which will turn Thailand into one of the the biggest global auto production base, said Kyoichi Tanada, President of Toyota Motor Thailand.
cakap senang ler, try la lu bikin negara sendri, jual kereta jer..ade maju ker bro?
klu da rase bagus sgt pegi la buat ic siam k indon
at least,mesia ade brand sdri dri siam dan indon tuh.
-proud to be malaysian
or you can vote and change G,if still not happening well..at least we try.I’m proud to be Malaysian,but sometimes we need a change..for the better bro.
i also want to change gov, but i dont think new gov able to remove NAP in total…they only can reduce it or replace to new tax …because they still need money to run the gov… but yes,,,, i agree we need to give them a chance
its too late, ‘nasi sudah jadi bubur’ no need to bitch so much anymore. the risk of assembling foreign brands is that when there are other cheaper alternatives they would just move and leave your balls hanging..in order to keep these companies in your country, you have to maintain a low currency as well as low wages to be competitive with developing countries..its then difficult to break out the mold economically. Proton despite all the protection it had for the past 28 years has failed miserably due to the failure to understand that its needs a passionate group of people to build cars and not politicians and Proton must not be obligated to purchase the components from political warlords. Couple of years back, there was a battle between EON and PE, both were arrogant and both lost dearly, in opinion these fiascos were stupid and self destructive. Today Proton in run by a MD which is good in re badging an a chairman which was also from the days of re badging mitsu’s, they don’t really have clear plans of product development sure they have a lot of hoo haa’s to keep the politicians happy but look at their product line, engine line..its been six years and we only have one type of engine which is behind in technology by 10 years despite the incoming turbo campro which took 6 years to come and where other manufacturers has updated their engines many time between that . Our chassis development still utilise the old mitsu platforms, The Perdana now suddenly is a nissan and the latest offering is a Mitsu lancer ..I honestly have no idea where the hell Proton is heading. The introduce protective policies 28 years ago to help proton build itself but then allow another re badging company in a pretext of the second car project plus the hoo haas again and yet its in your face that its a bloody daihatsu, how can anyone in the right frame of mind understand it..Time is running out, i say open up the market as M’sia can easily do 1 million cars a year and if proton survive, fine but if not.. too bad, its not hard to understand that even with smaller taxation the govt actually make more money as the govt only receive income for newly registered cars, its keeps the factory moving and people employed.
its the system bro…it shapes everything..including auto industry…proton has been in bad position for decades now…despite all the helps they keep churning out craps…look at lancer and look at inspira…see how good they are at turning a fairly good looking car into an shameless abysmall low powered creature that we all soo proud at…id say remove protection..see how they do…
Looks like this debate about the NAP and how Malaysia keep on losing the opportunity to be a car producing hub will keep rages on. Some of the arguments about the low wages, infrastructure and government support in Thailand/Indonesia do hold true. But those items are a small part of in car makers making a decision to invest. US, Europe, Australia, Japan and South Korea have high wages and yet they do have a thriving car industry. Australia is even building cars for export to US and Middle East where big RWD cars are favored.
A few years back, BMW is knocking at Malaysia’s door but was rebuffed. Instead they went to Thailand, no surprise there. We ended up with a BMW regional logistical warehouse. Then Cherry comes knocking and guess what, sorry no license if you don’t build cars with 1800cc and above. So off it went to Indonesia to be the world centre for right hand build cars. A lot of car makers do not like the government’s indecision and flip flop policy on cars.
Here, rarely see a Proton nor Perodua. Why should one buy one when for similar money you can get a CBU Korean or Japanese make. I have forsake Japanese cars and just go for Continental. Afterall back in Malaysia, nary can afford one. Petrol is ridiculously cheap even with the rising fuel costs. Just $1.60/L for V-Power RON98. No need to use exchange rate as earn here, spend here. Dollar to Dollar, better purchasing power here. A brand new Volvo XC70 is just $60+k! If you have RM60k, go see if you can get a Continental car. Mind you doubt you can even get a CBU Japanese make.
Thanks NAP! Won’t shed a tear when you are gone. Will be too busy celebrating and enjoying my XC70.
It’s all about money… The mamak need to protect his next generation wealth, as usual, to be the richest man unofficially… you’ll never know how much money is channel out of the country…
I do not know?
The article did mention about salary of Thai close to 1/3.
If you talk about 100,000 work force Thai cost less $40 mil per month.
This is the driving force. We get into the business early and standard of living growth higher in the 80s and 90s. In the seventies 1 ringgit we only get 4 baht.
well for the wages that the automotive assemblies pay you will need more immigrant workers. Malaysian definitely will not work for that kind of wages.
We are lucky that the govt either for good or bad forgo the chance to be automotive mfg hub after being the electronic mfg hub earlier. There simply not enough people.
The money raised through electronic industry have been properly invested in education and health sector thus the ppl now have higher qualification and looking for other jobs then assembly line.
It doesn’t matter Thai can produce decent, quality cars for others except own national car and still patriotic to own Thai people with the rest of ASEAN car market served well.
Unlike Proton, served local car buyers with overpriced yet faulty cars and demand all of us be patriotic buy local cars? Why should you buy crappy faulty cars, because NAP said so?
‘Detroit of the East’, the Thai folks and govt deserved it. No delusions.
‘Silicon Valley of the East’ aka.Cyberjaya? Now that’s a great delusion. Turns out it’s just another obscure housing projects area. Better change it to Apanama Jaya lah.
But the worst delusion so far still this one:
“Proton Waja – Asia’s anwer to BMW 3 series”.
Guys, Either NAP or NEP, all is come up with good intention….
But, when come to implementation, there are a lot of “Ghost” use this as tool to make themself rich, super rich!!!
End of the day, those orang susah still not been help, idea of every one can have a car still a dream…
If you are observing the market, you will know that now a day, those local CKD japanese car also give a lot of problem.
SO, the problem is not P1, P2, T, H or N, it is the sytem behind, the man behind that make every car become their toll to be super rich…
Proton was previously own by DRB Hicom, then sold it to Petronas.
If the idea of national car is working, why DRB Hicom sell it and setup assemby plant to ckd Honda?
After which, those CKDcar that develop under their unbella has encounter a lot of quality issue as what you get in P1 car in those day…
Very soon, the reputated T brand will also move into same direction…
It is the system and the man behind that need to be changed!!!
bro..T brand already in ruin process la.. hehe
imagine u have a factory of 100K people, what can be the food business surround that area, what can be the housing business, entertainment business surround that area. So its not only the working people benefit, but its a eco-systems.
G just don’t let the others benefit from it except the cronies. Too bad. P1 and P2 our life time cheapest car for sure.
Redboy, yup, that what I mean, the initial positive intetion turn become negative as there are a group of “Ghost” is working on personal interest, self creating billionaire,
Imaging if we CKD others brand, the factory will still be there, may be more, and the support industries will share the fruit equally instead of only control by certain grioup…
wasteful 25 years for malaysian automotive industry..totally agee if the G don’t setup P1 or P2 and go for CKD plant instead, the cycle effect to the people may be better than what is happening now..in the end both company is copycating others design and dump it to the market,one wonder how was the malaysian automotive industry scenario before this whole debacle of P1 and P2.
“average wages for manufacturing workers in Thailand is $245.50 per month, compared to China’s $412.50 and Malaysia’s $666. It’s not just about exports, as Thailand is also the biggest market in ASEAN – 800,357 vehicles were sold there in 2010, compared with Indonesia’s 764,088 and Malaysia’s 605,156.
”
summary
Thailand; wages= 245.50 ; car sold= 800,357
Malaysia; wages= 666.00 ; car sold= 605,156
i prefer high wages, and let me buy local car,,,,i don’t care about AP, or what ever thing people shout … even if we become detroit, people will angry with low wages, so it not solve problem….
the only thing bad on our country is “poor public transport” … that all …. petrol,property,sugar,water,electricity,toll all are still in acceptable price….
2010 Car Sales
Thailand – 800,357
Indonesia – 764,088
Malaysia – 605,156
2010 Population
Indonesia – 240 million
Thailand – 65 million
Malaysia – 28 million
Lan Area
Indonesia – 2 million KM square
Thailand – 0.51 million KM square
Malaysia – 0.33 million KM square
Which nation doing well, data tell…
But they definitely have higher potential for growth. Even a more affluent domestic market is good enough for them. So yes, they are in a different league. Even when Vietnam prosper, they will be in a different league. But if Cambodia grows, then we should be afraid.
China has the headache of governing 1.3 billion and are now looking at rural development. They’ve just released their 5-year plan and are expecting 8% annual growth.
Paul and Danny, the Mitsubishi Triton sold in Singapore will be priced from SGD63,988 to SGD90,988 (Approximately RM153,354.92 to RM218,063.66), this is more expensive than in Malaysia. Why compared to Mitsubishi Lancer, the Triton is cheaper in Malaysia and Thailand, but more expensive in Singapore?
because triton falls under commercial vehicle category, hence no excise duty applicable
In Singapore, the excise duty is applicable to all pickup trucks.
These excise duty is applicable to Thai-built trucks only. Singaporean government thinks the pickup trucks built from Thailand is not suitable for the Singaporean car parks, and price is too low to balancing the sales, so they decided to add the excise duty to the Thai-built pickup trucks. On the other hand, the American or Australian-built pickup trucks (such as Holden HSV Maloo and Ford F-150) is expensive enough, so the Singaporean governments decided not adding the excise duty to these trucks.
Our 1Malaysia PM already make Pekan as a VW S.E.A hub, our unfmous AP king sucessfully convince Peugeot to make Gurun for S.E.A market. Actually we are on the right track. Still a room for improvement. Thailand , Singapore,Indonesia has a lot poor people because they depends on us to feed them ie fuel,sugar, wheat flour,palm oil etc.
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