Isuzu Thailand Truck Plant Off to Robust Start
Output at the new factory is expected to ease the 3- to 4-month wait for customer deliveries, but the auto maker says orders will multiply as the D-Max pickup is introduced in more global markets.
Isuzu Thailand opens a new, 200,000-unit truck assembly plant and says it will have to start expanding the facility immediately to meet growing worldwide demand.
The TB6.5 billion ($211.8 million) plant at the Gateway City Industrial Estate in Chachoengsao, 100 miles (161 km) east of Bangkok, is building D-Max pickup and medium/heavy-duty trucks.
“We decided to increase (our) investment because we can see much more demand for the D-Max coming in,” Tri Petch Isuzu Sales President Hiroshi Nakagawa tells The Nation newspaper. “We're trying to accelerate the plan as quickly as we can, and our parent company is studying the details of the proposal.
“If we can, we will go ahead next year by expanding this Gateway plant, which has room for expansion.”
Nakagawa says Isuzu’s first Thai plant, at Samrong on the edge of Bangkok, has annual capacity of 230,000 units but no room for expansion.
The new 6.46-million-sq.-ft. (600,000-sq.-m) factory is expected to ease the 3- to 4-month wait for customer deliveries, but Nakagawa says orders will multiply as the D-Max is introduced in more global markets.
While the auto maker waits for approval of the Gateway plant expansion, Isuzu will introduce a second shift at the new facility.
Isuzu Motor Thailand President Makoto Kawahara says the factory is equipped with a full-scale production system covering stamping components to complete assembly.
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