Ford Motor Company (FN) is making its largest-ever investment in Thailand, spending $900 million to modernize factories that produce Ranger pickup trucks and Everest SUVs.
The plan is to almost double the variety of robots on the Thai manufacturing plant and at AutoAlliance Thailand, a three way partnership with Mazda Motor Corp (7261.T), with $400 million allocated to the provision chain network.
According to Kamolchanok Prasertsom, director of communications for Thailand and ASEAN markets, Ford can produce about 270,000 vehicles a yr in Thailand.
Most of the corporate’s pickup trucks are shipped to Asia-Pacific countries comparable to Australia, New Zealand and the Philippines.
Its export market is robust, it said, adding that the share is adjusted monthly if demand increases in the long run.
Thanks to the factory upgrades, the corporate will have the opportunity to higher adapt production of vehicles comparable to open cabs and four-door pickup trucks to demand.
And efforts to attain an 8% global operating margin contrast with the closure of three plants in Brazil this yr as a part of an $11 billion global restructuring. Additionally, it’s ceasing production in India, where it has been scuffling with financial difficulties for a very long time.
Thailand is the fourth largest automobile assembly and export center in Asia, accounting for about 10% of GDP and industrial employment.
General Motors (GM.N) sold its Thai factories last yr to the Chinese company Great Wall Motor, which began producing SUVs there and likewise intends to supply electric cars.
Thailand’s state-owned utility PTT Pcl (PTT.BK) announced it can partner with Foxconn (2317.TW) to spend between $1 billion and $2 billion on an electrical vehicle factory.
Source: Reuters.com
