Suzuki to expand capacity in Thailand

Suzuki Motor Thailand plans to spend US$44.9 million to increase annual production capacity at its Rayong plant to 100,000 vehicles, reports the Bangkok Post. Suzuki’s factory in Rayong’s Hemaraj Eastern Seaboard Industrial Estate currently has an annual capacity of 50,000 Swift eco-cars.
The expansion will start by mid-2013 and will be finished the following year, said Wallop Treererkngam, general manager for marketing at the Japanese automaker’s local unit. “The expansion is aimed at serving the domestic market and Suzuki drivers in Thailand, who number 50,000 now,” said Treererkngam. Suzuki will export new Swifts to Australia in the third quarter of 2013, he added.
Suzuki invested US$277.1 million in 2011 in the first phase of the new plant in Rayong to build the new Swift, which comes with a 1.25-liter petrol (gasoline) engine, replacing the 1.5-liter model imported from Indonesia with a fuel consumption of more than 20 kilometers per liter. Other models – the APV, SX4, Grand Vitara and Carry – are imported from Indonesia.
Suzuki sold nearly 25,000 vehicles in Thailand in 2012, a 155% surge over 2011, with the Swift line-up accounting for 17,000 units. The company aims to further expand sales in the country to 60,000 units this year, including 43,000 units of the new Swift.
Suzuki, which expects a surge in sales of eco-cars, even though the government’s first-time car-buyer program has expired, plans to expand the number of showrooms and service centers in Thailand to 100 this year from 85 currently. It also plans to launch the new MPV, a five-door, seven-seater family car, later in March.
 
(March 11, 2013)