Pickup-truck makers target exports
While the domestic pickup-truck market has shrunk by more than 20 per cent so far this year, automakers are trying to maintain production by increasing exports.
Toyota, the largest auto producer in Thailand, yesterday staged the export ceremony for its redesigned Hilux pickup truck, which will be shipped to more than 130 countries, with the first batch of 2,700 units sent to South America from Laem Chabang Port.
The Hilux is the main product from Toyota’s IMV (Innovative Multipurpose Vehicle) project that also includes the Fortuner PPV (pickup passenger vehicle) and Innova pickup-based minivan (which is produced in Indonesia).
According to Wichien Emprasertsuk, executive vice president of Toyota Motor Thailand Co, Toyota has raised its pickup-truck export ratio from 50 per cent last year to 60 per cent in 2015 to cope with the slump in the domestic market.
Toyota has invested more than Bt50 billion to start up production of the new Hilux at the Samrong and Ban Pho plants with a combined production capacity of 450,000 units per year, including the Fortuner.
Filling in the gap
"Not only Toyota but virtually every auto producer in the country is trying to increase exports in order to fill in the gap caused by the domestic market’s shrinkage," he said.
"We try to utilise 100-per-cent production in order to maintain our workforce and at present we are working with overtime."
Toyota plans to export 186,000 Hilux pickup trucks this year, with major markets being Australia and New Zealand, the Middle East, Britain and South America.
During the first five months of this year, the pickup-truck market in Thailand plunged by 20.8 per cent to 141,322 units, with the poor performance blamed on consumers’ concerns over the yet-to-recover economy that has resulted in more careful spending, as well as lower income levels for farmers, who are major pickup buyers.
Toyota is the largest auto exporter from Thailand, with accumulated pickup-truck exports since the IMV project started in 2004 valued at Bt1.25 trillion, in addition to Bt596 billion for engines and parts.
The redesigned Hilux, which is badged as the Hilux Revo for the Thai market, contains as much as 97 per cent local content, with research and development taking place in Thailand.
