AsThailandconsolidatesitsreputationasthe“DetroitoftheEast”withnewinvestmentsbyleadinginternationalvehicleandautomotivepartsmanufac-turers,AmericanfirmsareplayingalargerroleinthismarketthathashistoricallybeendominatedbyJapanesesuppliers.Thailand’seconomicrecoveryfromthe1997financialcrisisisevi-dencedbyasolid4.2percenteconomicgrowthratein1999and4.5percentprojectedfor2000.Theautomotiveindustryhasbeenasectoralstandout,withvehiclesalesthroughSeptember2000upby30percentto184,000units.Exportshavebeenbooming,with1999vehicleandpartsexportsupby76per-centto$1.5billion,andvehicleexportsareprojectedtoreach181,000thisyear,anearly50percentincrease.Thistrendisexpectedtocontinuethroughthefirsthalfofthisdecade,withtheEconomistIntelligenceUnitprojectingThailand’s2003vehicleproductiontoreach735,000unitsandtocomprisemorethanhalfoftotalASEANproduction.ThemostnotabledevelopmentinThailand’sindustryin2000hasbeenthefull-scaleopeningoftheGeneralMotorsnew$600millionvehicleassemblyplantinRayonginAugust.Atthegrandopening,GMChairmanJackSmithannouncedthatfirst-yearproductionofthenewZafiraminivanwouldincreaseby50percentoverINVESTMENTBYMAJORU.S.AUTOMANUFACTURERSNEWOPPORTUNITIES18EXPORTAMERICAFebruary,2001ASIANMARKETSTHAILAND’SAUTOMOTIVESECTORGROWTHOFFERSOPPORTUNITIESbyDavidGossackCommercialAttaché,Bangkok,ThailandAsianmarketshavereceivedatremendousamountofattentionoflate.Fromthefinan-cialcrisisin1997totheimpendingaccessionofChinatotheWorldTradeOrganization,AmericansarenowfamiliarwiththeimportanceandinterdependenceofAsianmarkets.ExportopportunitieshavealwaysexistedforU.S.companiesinAsianmarketsandmar-ketanalysis,long-termmarketcommitmentandwillingnesstobuildlastingrelationshipsareeachanimportantcomponenttosuccessfultransactions.Wearefocusingattentiononjustthreeofthemanyindustrieswhereexportopportu-nitiesexistinAsia:theautomotiveindustryinThailand,informationtechnologyinallofAsiaandenvironmentaltechnologiesinVietnam.ThisisasampleofthetypeofmarketresearchthatisavailabletoU.S.companieslookingtoexpandtooverseasmarkets.previousprojectionsto60,000units.ThesuccessofFord’stwoyearoldjointventurewithMazda,AutoAllianceThailand,hascatapultedFordintofourthplaceinThailand’slargemarketforone-tonpickuptrucks,whichistheworld’ssecondlargestpre-1997.Ford’sexportsallovertheworldnowmakeitThailand’ssecondlargestvehicleexporterbehindMitsubishi.Thecon-centrationofproductionofone-tonpickupsinThailandmakesthecountryoneoftheworldproductioncentersforthistypeofvehicle.Americanfirmsarealsogainingagrowingfootholdasasupplierofautopartsforbothdomesticassemblyfacil-itiesandforexport,anotherareatraditionallydominatedbyJapanesefirms.MajorU.S.firsttierpartssuppli-ersalreadyinoperationhereincludeDana,LucasVerity,Arvin,Visteon,LearandTRWAutomotive,whichinJuly2000openeditsnewchassismod-uleplant,joiningitsexistingsteeringandsuspensionplantsupplyingThaivehicleassemblyoperations.DelphiisalsoenteringtheThaimarketandisnowconstructingitsownfacilitytoopenin2002.AnotherareaforsignificantexpansionbyAmericanfirmsisintechnologytie-upsandjointventureswithThailand’sdomesticautopartsmanu-facturers.Thailand’sautomotivepartsmanufacturingindustryisreputedtobeASEAN’sbestintermsofproductandhasbeenoneofthekeyreasonsforinternationalassemblerstoestablishtheirASEANregionalproductionhubinThailand.Theindustrysupplies80percentofpartsusedforassemblyofpicku...
