Isuzu to Build Second Factory in Thailand

Isuzu announces a TB6.5 billion ($211.8 million) plant in Thailand that will produce 100,000 1-ton pickups and 30,000 bigger trucks a year and raise the auto maker’s annual output to more than 300,000 units.

The new plant at Gateway Industrial Estate in Chachoengsao, 100 miles (160 km) east of Bangkok, will be Tri Petch Isuzu’s second after its Samrong plant in Samut Prakan outside Bangkok with annual capacity of 200,000 vehicles.

The Nation English-language newspaper reports Tri Petch Isuzu President Hiroshi Nakagawa announced the new plant after Isuzu’s European distributor, Midi Group of Italy, called on the auto maker to increase deliveries to customers.

Midi Europe President Giancarlo Mirandola tells Thai reporters demand for D-Max trucks has exceeded supply from Thailand in recent months.

Last year’s natural disasters in Japan and Thailand forced many Thai assembly plants to close temporarily because of parts shortages. Tri Petch Isuzu reduced its exports but still could not fill all orders in the domestic market.

Midi Group says only 763 Isuzu pickups from Thailand were sold in Europe last year, down from 902 the year before, mainly because of disruptions in the global auto parts supply chain.

Nakagawa apologizes to Isuzu customers in Thailand and overseas facing long waits to get their vehicles as the auto maker struggles to catch up with demand. In Thailand alone, the wait is three to four months.

“We are trying our best to increase our production in order to shorten the delivery period,” he is quoted as saying.