Aust auto sector eyes greater role for Thais

While the local auto industry is significant in size and well supported by a strong network of parts suppliers, it lacks the ability to design and develop new products in-house.
“Thai suppliers are good at producing parts according to print, but not at design,” said Carl De Koning, executive business development officer of Futuris Automotive (Thailand), an Australian supplier of auto interiors. “Australian companies, with their strong technical capacity, have been designing and developing vehicles for many years, and want to become partners with Thai companies that have production volume and capacity.”
De Koning, who is attending “Australian Auto Week” in Thailand, which runs until Friday, said the Thai auto industry benefited from very strong government support, particularly from the Board of Investment with its “good and sound policies”.
“And the market has a strong Japanese-process capability, so Thai suppliers have learned a lot from them. Thailand also has good production and export quality, a strong labour force that is competitively priced, and better efficiency than many countries, including some [operators in] in China,” he said.
In Thailand, Futuris, which is in the Hemaraj Industrial Estate in Rayong, supplies interiors and seats to Ford for the Ranger and Focus models, and to General Motors for the Trailblazer.
Thanks to increased orders due to new model launches as well as the growing market, the company has decided to build a second plant at the same venue.
“We are also talking to three Japanese companies about supplying our products to them,” he added.
In Australia, all Ford and GM vehicle interiors are made by Futuris, as well as those for some Toyota models.
In China, it supplies Chery, JAC and Brilliance, while in the United States it builds seats for the Tesla Model S luxury electric car.
At Australian Auto Week, which was organised by the Australian Trade Commission, Australian automotive companies are looking for potential matches with Thai original-equipment-manufacturing suppliers, as well as encouraging Thai companies to invest in Australia.
Participants also embark on plant visits – for example, to the Ford and GM factories in Rayong – and attend seminars that showcase the capability of Australian suppliers, some of which are already in the Thai market.
“Australia is one of the 13 countries worldwide with a full range of automotive capabilities, from concept to delivery,” said John Conomos, the Australian automotive industry’s envoy. “Our automotive industry is committed to integrating more closely with other automotive nations within Asean.”
He said the growing global demand for increasingly refined, environmentally friendly and safe automobiles and components provided opportunities for joint ventures, collaborations, trade, technology transfers and investments between Australia and Thailand.
“The focus of Australian automotive suppliers on innovative technology solutions – for example, in the areas of gaseous fuels, light-weighting, low emissions and electrification – means they have much to offer to the world market,” he added.