BANGKOK, 23 April 2011 – Japanese car makers plan to cut their production in Thailand to 50 percent due to the shortage of imported parts caused by the devastation in Japan, according to the Ministry of Industry.
After a meeting to assess impacts from the natural disaster in Japan on the Thai automotive industry, Permanent Secretary for Industry Withoon Simachokedee stated that all Japanese automakers, including Toyota, Honda, Nissan and Isuzu, would reduce their outputs from their bases in Thailand by 50 percent from now until June.
The temporary production cut is expected to result in a decrease of 150,000 units or a loss of 75 billion THB. Moreover, the delivery of certain models during the period could be delayed, which would prompt the need to partially reimburse customers for their reservation money.
However, despite the production shrinkage, the Japanese car companies assured that there would not be any job cut as they would use this opportunity to improve skills of the existing labor. The assembly of most motorcycles will also receive no impact, given they mainly rely on domestically-produced parts.
