Suzuki, Nissan plan to spend Bt15 billion

Published on December 7, 2007

Suzuki Motor and Siam Nissan Automobile have proposed investing a combined Bt15.05 billion in eco-car projects, for consideration today by the Board of Investment (BoI) for tax privileges, says an agency source.

Suzuki will spend Bt9.5 billion to produce eco-cars, with annual production capacity of 138,000 vehicles.

Fellow Japanese auto-maker Nissan will invest Bt5.55 billion in environmentally friendly cars, with annual capacity of 120,000 units.

However, the source said three other carmakers also submitted applications for investment incentives for their eco-car projects as of November 30: Toyota Motor, Mitsubishi and Tata Motors (Thailand).

Honda is the only company that has been granted tax incentives for eco-car production. It is investing Bt6.7 billion.

To be eligible for incentives, a project must produce at least 100,000 vehicles per annum, and vehicles' fuel consumption must be at least 20 kilometres per litre.

"We've expressed our interest to the government in investing in eco-car production here," said Tata Motors (Thailand) CEO Ajit Venkataraman. However, he declined to disclose the project's details.

Tata Motors (Thailand) yesterday announced investment of Bt1.3 billion to manufacture pickups locally. The company is a 70:30 joint venture between Tata Motors, the largest automotive firm in India, and Thonburi Automotive Assembly Plant.

Those pickups will be produced at the company's plant at the Phra Pradaeng Industrial Estate in Samut Prakan province. The plant has an annual production capacity of 35,000 units and expects to roll out pickups into the market next March.

Ajit said more than half of the pickups' components would be sourced from local suppliers.

"We try to maximise our parts localisation. More than 40 Thai suppliers, who have now become our partners in the production of pickups, also have a chance to be tier-1 supplier to Tata Motors in India," he said.

Ajit said the company would initially focus on the domestic market before expanding its customer base to other Southeast Asian countries.

Next year, it will launch an entire range of pickups, including single-, stretch- and double-cab versions.

It has targeted selling 5,000 units in the first year and plans to have 5 per cent of the Thai pickup market within the next five years.

Meanwhile, nine projects, including the two eco-car schemes, are expected to be approved by the BoI today. The projects are worth a total of Bt45.326 billion.

Chalida Ekvitthayavechnukul