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Thailand grabs an eco-car niche |
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Thailand, already the world’s second largest producer of one-ton pickup trucks (after only the USA), earlier this month secured itself an eco-car niche in the globe’s competitive auto manufacturing sector. The Thailand Board of Investment (BOI) has so far approved 6 eco-car projects i.e. Honda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Suzuki, Tata, and Toyota with a total investment value of 60 billion baht. Under the Eco-Car Program, companies have to manufacture no fewer than 100,000 units per annum from the fifth year and meet the government requirements of producing a vehicle that consumes less than 5 liters of petrol per 100 kilometers and complies with the Euro 4 standards of carbon emissions of less than 120 grams per kilometer. Thailand is already Southeast Asia’s leading automobile manufacturer. Some 1.25 million vehicles were produced locally last year, of which nearly 54 per cent were exported. The country is the world’s 14th largest auto exporter. With the eco-car program now underway, the Thai government is confident it can meet its target to boosting production to 2 million units by 2010, with 50-60 per cent of that destined for exports.
Due to the decrease
of excise tax on eco-cars to 17 per cent, effective in October 2009, the
future eco-cars will have a distinct price advantage that should allow
them to be sold at competitive prices. Normal passenger cars face a 30
to 50 per cent excise tax in Thailand. |
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ASEAN Autobiz, May 2008 |
