Thonburi Assembly auto plant in Samut Prakan, where luxury Mercedes-Benz cars are produced, will reopen tomorrow after temporarily suspending production since last Friday.

The plant also evacuated nearly 1,000 Mercedes units to higher land to avoid the floodwater.

A senior executive at Mercedes-Benz Thailand said many customers requested the company postpone car delivery until the water recedes.

The suspension has nothing to do with the parts-supply problems in Thailand, unlike Japanese car manufacturers, since imported parts from Germany are mostly used to build a Mercedes-Benz with the rest coming from local sources.

AutoAlliance Thailand's auto plant in Rayong, which is currently building cars for Ford and Mazda, has stopped its night shift as parts from flooded Ayutthaya remain delayed.

The Rayong plant, with capacity of 270,000 units per year, produces more cars than pickup trucks, especially the Ford Fiesta and Mazda2 subcompacts, which draw strong demand.

The massive flood took a toll on Honda Automobile Thailand's plant in Ayutthaya, and several auto-parts plants there shuttered production.

Honda reiterated yesterday it would pay its workers as usual even though the plant is closed until Friday.

Lack of parts from Ayutthaya also forced Toyota Motor Thailand to shut its three plants in Samut Prakan and Chachoengsao until Saturday.