Thailand believes that it will maintain its status as a major car production base – and primary ASEAN production hub – in the post-Covid-19 period, despite the pandemic having affected the auto industry, as it has many others. The belief has been bolstered by Nissan’s relocation of its production from Indonesia, resulting in Thailand being the company’s sole production base in Southeast Asia.
In March, the Japanese automaker had announced that it was ending vehicle manufacturing in Indonesia with the closure of its second assembly plant in the country. The automaker originally had two plants in the republic, but closed the first – which produced Nissan-badged cars – in September last year.
According to the country’s industry minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit, the Japanese automaker is “confident” in Thailand, where it plans to continue its business. He said this was intimated during his recent talk with Nissan Thailand president Ramesh Narasimhan, the Bangkok Post reports.
Suriya said that Nissan is determined to produce both electric and hybrid cars in the long term, and
this will be good for employment. Citing an example, he said that the Kicks e-Power hybrid – which made its global debut in May – would be built in Thailand for export to many countries, including Japan.
He added that despite the adverse impact brought about by the pandemic, Thailand would continue to position itself as the car production base for many companies in the ASEAN region.
Thailand and Indonesia have long been battling it out for supremacy in the region. It has been close in terms of domestic sales, but Thailand has been well ahead in terms of production, with almost half of the cars produced in Thailand being exported. Despite the pandemic, the Kingdom remains the region’s No 1 in terms of production, as results from the first five months of the year show.
According to the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI), domestic car production will be between 1.3 million and 1.4 million units this year, down from the 1.9 million forecast before the pandemic began.
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Yes, their position is still secure because they have millions of cheap laborers that can do routine work day in day out without any questions. They’re cheaper and more easy to re-train compared to automotive robots. As long as the Thai workforce can do manual labor intensive jobs for low pay and be cheaper than automation, their position is secure. If Thailand progresses and moves up the value chain with Knowledge Economy and high-value services industry, they will cease to be the Detroit of the East. Better to keep their pay low and education level low so that they can maintain their manufacturing hub position.
Meanwhile 40% drop in volume killed millions of jobs. Well done Thailand, you created a gig economy out of a stable one. Now nobody there has a stable job and everyone is worried for their job security and no choice but to work near slavery conditions just to keep their jobs.
Why it is no surprise that other than automotive hub, Thailand have earned another moniker as The Sweatshop of Asean.
very simple. unlike the malaysians, the thais don take a month off every year, and work quarter day every friday.