A couple of days ago I wrote about how Peugeot is looking to South East Asia for the next area of big growth. I also mentioned in the article how Peugeot will have a tough time trying to crack that market. Toyota, Honda and Nissan already have a pretty tight grip on that area. Well, it appears that Toyota has put forward their first defensive stroke.
The Bangkok Post reports that Toyota Thailand will now produce the latest generation of the Toyota Prius. Toyota Thailand already has hybrid building experience under its belt as it has been producing the Toyota Camry hybrid since May 2009. The timing isn’t coincidental. Next month, the Toyota Prius hits the Thai market. More details of this announcement will be made public on October the 21st by Kyoichi Tanada, Toyota Thailand’s President. This move is a good move. Thailand is a member of ASEAN, a free trade agreement amongst South East Asian countries. This will allow Toyota to export the Prius from Thailand to other South East Asian countries, tariff free. More importantly, it’ll also protect it from Japanese Priuses which are so hideously expensive to make. If Toyota takes any more volume away from Japanese factories, they may have to close some down.
I wonder if Carlos Ghosn does consultancy work…?
The Japanese have been flooding Thailand recently with investment recently, and its not Automotive goods; mostly due to JTEPA. Some of this is largely the result of the Chinese labor strikes, but Thai labor is now 33% cheaper then Chinese labor.
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/39318/
ASEAN influence is also now crucial. Earlier this year there were attempts of an ASEAN-China FTA, the Chinese seems to fear ASEAN for cheap labor like the US fears cheap Chinese labor. Considering that ASEAN nations represent 580 million people this is not surprising.
“I wonder if Carlos Ghosn does consultancy work…?”
I guess you meant, Phillip Varin, CEO of PSA Peugeot, not the CEO of Renault/Nissan…
Right?
No. I mean Carlos Ghosn. Because he was famous for closing factories down in Japan and outsourcing them to other plants when he was trying to turn Nissan around. Which was the allusion I was making when I wrote that comment.