The Thailand Automotive Institute is confident that the projected production of 600,000 vehicles this year will proceed as usual although some parts must be imported from Japan, which was recently hit by a major disaster.
Thailand Automotive Institute Director Wanlop Tiasiri voiced his confidence that automobile production would not be suspended although some important parts must be imported from Japan. He explained that not all factories in Japan were damaged by the quake and tsunami.
Most of the factories in the auto industry in Japan are located in the middle part of the country such as in Nagoya and below Tokyo while those located in the tsunami-hit areas are only affiliated depots.
Wanlop elaborated that Japanese auto parts are usually shipped to Thailand and it takes 15 days on each trip. However, the delivery can be made by air if necessary. Hence he believed that vehicle production in Thailand would not be affected.
The director added that Thailand has targeted to manufacture 600,000 cars, including eco-cars for Honda and Nissan while the production of pick-up trucks will be using locally produced parts. He reaffirmed that the planned production of 1.4 million pickup trucks this year will not be affected. (NNT)
