In a bid to grow its business in ASEAN, Fuji Heavy Industries (FHI) – the manufacturer of Subaru vehicles – has announced plans to establish a production base in Thailand. FHI is set to enter into a basic agreement on establishing a joint venture with TC Manufacturing and Assembly Thailand (TCMA TH), a subsidiary of Tan Chong International Limited (TCIL) next month.
The plan states that the JV company – to be called Tan Chong Subaru Automotive (Thailand) Co Ltd – will be majority owned by TCMA TH with 74.9%, with the Japanese company holding the remaining 25.1%. The parties aim to start Thai production in 2019.
At present, Subaru’s sole ASEAN CKD production base is in Malaysia, where the Tan Chong Motor Assemblies plant in Segambut rolls out the Subaru XV and Forester SUV models for our domestic market and export to Thailand.
The statement from FHI did not spell out the models that will be built in Thailand, but it did say that “production in Malaysia will continue, and TCIL will sell the vehicles produced both in Malaysia and Thailand through its Subaru dealer network.”
Most in the region know of the Subaru brand via distributor Motor Image, a subsidiary of the Hong Kong-listed TCIL holding company. While TCIL and the Malaysian-listed Tan Chong Motor Holdings Berhad (guardian of the Nissan and Renault brands in Malaysia) share family ties and the same name, the former is led by a different branch of the family, and is based in Singapore.
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Syabas gov for attracting investments. Proton will still have market leadership though. Syabas gov! – Faiz Roslan CEng
Uhh. Pipu alredi knows u is reverse psychology RBA. U can drop the act now.
He might also be an independent troll.
Famili business. Veli complicated, no?
Not really. Two brothers started Tan Chong & Sons Motors & today the 3rd generation has started to take over. Each brothers family respectively has taken different markets (countries) but it’s still very much a Tan family business.
Pls read the history. Theres a lot of bad blood between both famili. No gather-gather even for CNY, yo!
So is thai tc vs msia tc like that? New thing i learn today
Cool. Cheaper Wrxies. If they can get it priced competitively with the Civic and all of those cars, they’ll have a winner.
Please bring Impreza into Malaysia.
They will start production in 2019 that means impreza could be sell here as cbu unit. Maybe that time we get impreza facelift already
This is bittersweet news. I was really hoping that Subaru would eventually choose to build their own plant in Malaysia. But business is business I guess… I can fully understand why Subaru/ TCIL did what they did… and I don’t blame them.
Once again, our government/ MITI/ MAI/ MAA have all failed to offer any incentives for TCIL and Subaru to invest in our auto industry. Maybe it’s not too late, maybe there is still time for them to act.
Tan Chong Subaru is the only company which exports more cars than they sell locally… does our government even realise the significance of that ? No other established car company in Malaysia can claim that distinction.
At the very least, it’s good to know that Subaru intends to maintain some form of local assembly here. But I doubt they plan on making Malaysia their ASEAN export hub… why should they ? TCIL would want to keep the Subaru business to themselves. TCIL already has the franchise rights for Subaru in ASEAN. TCMH is too tied-up with Nissan to invest in a second major company like Subaru. It’s likely that TCMH will provide technical assistance to TCIL with their very first assembly plant. Beyond that, I cannot say.
Sigh… sad.
tan chong assembly in thailand? must be because of cheaper labour. oh why malaysia. why.
and eventually, sooner or later, TC will close down subaru assembly in Malaysia. rakyat lose jobs.
why malaysia is going down has an obvious reason.
Yep wait til the day 5thb = 1rm
cheaper and hardworking labour plus more local vendor that able to produce quality parts
pls pls pls bring in the impreza
Another car manufacturer choosing Thailand over Boleh-Land. Congrats Thailand. You must be doing something right to attract these FDI.
They have been doing what we should have been doing long time ago.
Correction. They have been doing long b4 we started
Cuz some prominent pipu dun like FDIs…
Is not like they don’t like, they demand to much
Crony benefit > overall country economy benefit
We make in Thailand, but Malaysia will be a market or base.
Still assembled here
I not worry thailand got assembly subaru..
Proton must focus on itself … know the problem act quick !! Build a car can make peoples say wow !! Best marketing strategic !!
One day …thailand assembly Proton ….probably I dreaming …sigh