Assembly of Subaru cars will start in Thailand early 2019, starting with the Subaru Forester model, it has been affirmed. Bangkok Post reports that the plan by Tan Chong International Ltd (TCIL) to invest US$150 million to make 10,000 Subaru cars a year in the Kingdom is on track.
At present the sole Subaru manufacturing base in ASEAN is in Malaysia, where the XV and Forester models roll out of the Tan Chong Motor Assemblies plant in Segambut at the rate of 15,000 to 16,000 units per annum, for both domestic consumption and export to neighbouring countries.
Samson Chua, the newly appointed GM of TC Subaru Thailand, TCIL’s Thai sales arm, says that both Thai and Malaysian facilities will operate in parallel from 2019 to serve ASEAN, but the model split is yet to be determined. The Thai factory will be located at Bangkok’s Lat Krabang Industrial Estate.
Last year was a good year for Subaru in Thailand, with sales of 3,318 units, up 25.6% year-on-year. The target for this year is 3,200 units, but TC Subaru Thailand has managed just 761 units in the first five months of 2017, due to a delay in replenishing stock of the Malaysian-made XV. Next year’s sales will be boosted by the new XV, which is set to reach ASEAN in Q4 this year.
GALLERY: 2017 Subaru XV 2.0i-S
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Aiyoo, somemore money going into Thailand. Everybody wants to invest in Thailand cause it is more conducive and no need to give 30% of your company away free.
It is a matter of time also, Tan Chong will close shop completely in Malaysia and make all Nissans there once Malaysia cannot escape avoiding AFTA. Now, Malaysia selok belok every year try to avoid AFTA.
Soon you will see even BMW, Mercedes, Honda, Toyota stop CKD in Malaysia and make all their cars in Thailand. Cheaper labour and no need dedak to make things happen.
Here, Toyota, Honda, Subaru, BMW, Mercedes all must get their parts from CRONY vendors to comply with CKD requirements. So, car companies rather open in Thailand
Caveman who cant diff between TCMA & TCIL. Well, what to expect from low IQ & EQ, scrapping at bottom of barrel just for pittance from his lords.
What about the new Impreza?
XV is actually a nice daily car to drive with but very bad aftersales service.
Fully agree
The XV needs dual AVCS urgently. The single one is a nightmare. Come on subaru!
Boxer engine. Superb yet headache
Among all the brands handled by the two Tan Chong groups, I think Subaru is the most promising, sustainable and profitable right now.
So far this year, Nissan’s local sales have been very poor (unlike 2016), and until (or rather, if) Tan Chong brings in the all-new Micra (Jazz-rival), their market share won’t improve. Also, why can’t Tan Chong bring in the new Qashqai too ? … Possibly because they already have the X-Trail, and the Qashqai is made by Nissan U.K. (import/excise tax will be much higher).
The Renault brand has also been slow selling, but the Captur seems promising, especially since the new CKD model brought prices down. The Fluence is also a good car, but nowadays, the trend is SUVs instead of sedan cars.
Tan Chong needs to do more to remain relevant. Today, fewer people are buying Nissan cars. Nissan’s 2017 market share currently stands at around 5%. But in 1981, Nissan was the no.1 car company with around 25% share. Now, Honda Malaysia (~20%) and even UMW Toyota (~12%) have left Tan Chong Nissan far behind.
Tan Chong is one of the oldest car companies in Malaysia. They have 60 years of heritage, and until now, many (myself included) still hold Tan Chong in high regard. Unfortunately, most younger generations aren’t going to care about history or heritage. Tan Chong cannot depend on their past reputation if they want to survive in the future.
TC holding onto their dinosars for survival
Tan chong is not that much worried though. They have the deal secured with Renault and Nissan. They have the Nissan diesel heavy equipment division too. APM (seats, suspension, electrical) is under tan chong umbrella too. Other than Renault and Subaru, tan chong is also the distributor for China made prime mover (angka-tan). What else? Tan chong is holding distributorship in Myanmar and Vietnam, doing manual assembly of 3-4 cars per day – just nice to suit the sales demand. Tan chong also has its popular travel agency, under the Warisan group. Nissan is not losing money for TC, not much profit but they are well diversified.
Trading bisnes selamat & manyak untung.
Oriental kaya raya jual Honda….Xtakut bailout.
Drb Hicom…sudah dpt manyak profit dgn Honda Msia
Oriental Kah Motors went from main principal to become just another franchise distro. That was a big loss of business that affected many many shareholders. Xtakut bailout? Yes, cuz the shareholders bailed out HL.
Nissan car are seriously tasteless, Almera and Slyphy is freaking ugly, overpriced and underspec compare to City and Civic. The only sellable car from Nissan are Teana, Navara, Xtrail and Serena.
Yes, TC should get their act together & bring in their newer line of Nissan cars. Micra is really a good start.
TC (Nissan) is really not getting anywhere with their current line-up. The Almera is good point to point car no doubt, but truly boring & lifeless.
Like ex-VGM staff mentioned, perhaps TC is resting on their laurel because they have a very diversified business model. They are not doing anything good for owners really
Will buy the car just for that orange dressed chick, Monika
Consider a used Tucson. Great value for money
If you have driven XV you will know how bad it suffer in terms of acceleration due to the CVT. Otherwise its a good car!
I dunno why they never add in a turbo as a fast option. Euro cars have so many engine options from one model.
tahniah industri siam