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Sunlong Motors Thailand Co will start assembling natural gas-powered buses this month to strengthen the vehicle supply to its clients in Thailand.
Chairman Lin Ke Nuo said Sunlong, the co-venture of Thailand's Bestlin Group (51%) and Chinese-based Xiamen Golden Dragon Van Co (49%), will initially produce 40 buses in 20 days before delivering them to the private bus operators under the concessions of the state-run Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA).
Costing more than 300 million baht, the plant, located at Ban Bung, Chon Buri, has a capacity to produce 120 buses per month under one working shift. About 40% local content will be used in the assembling and the rest will come from assembly kits imported from China since some major parts are not available locally.
Mr Lin said the bus assembling in Thailand was part of Xiamen Golden Dragon Van's effort to deliver buses as quickly as possible to its clients in Thailand since the supply of imported buses made in China was rather tight due to the strong demand in China for the 2008 Olympics.
Xiamen Golden Dragon Van, the manufacturer of Golden Dragon coaches, buses, midi-buses, mini-buses and light vans in China, has seen big demand for mid-sized city buses and a good chance to make inroads into the Thai public transport market.
As well, the Chinese manufacturer sees Thailand as a key target for exploring the overseas market.
Plans are under way to ship the Thai-made buses to Malaysia, India and Singapore.
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